Nigeria’s Presidency on Sunday berated the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), saying that it does not have any credible membership.
In a statement obtained by Vanguard and signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, it described the association as a one-man show that is like a general without troops which revolves on Prof. Ango Abdullahi.
Adesina noted that the group had before the 2019 presidential elections expressed its hatred for President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the candidate NEF supported in the election suffered defeat.
The statement read, “Professor Ango Abdullahi on Sunday signed a long-winding statement on many issues relating to the North, and purportedly to the country.
” The former vice-chancellor signed the statement under the banner of Northern Elders Forum (NEF). Hearing that title, you would think the body was a conglomeration of true elders.
“But the truth is that NEF is just Ango Abdullahi, and Ango Abdullahi is NEF. It is a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership, and its leader is akin to a General without troops. ”
“Before the 2019 presidential election, the one-man army called NEF had shown its antipathy against President Muhammadu Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together.”
Continuing, Adesina said, “NEF is merely waving a flag that is at half-mast. President Buhari steadily and steadfastly focuses on the task of retooling Nigeria, and discerning Nigerians know the true state of the nation. They don’t need a paper tiger to tell them anything.”
