The Presidency has described the Northern Elders Forum, NEF as “mere irritants and featherweight.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Sunday that the NEF does not even exist.
The Presidency was infuriated by a statement issued by the Northern Elders Forum which claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in his duty of protecting Nigerians.
The NEF led by Professor Ango Abdullahi, has recently been critical of both President Muhammadu Buhari and the Northern Governors for not being “sensitive to their responsibilities.”
But in a swift reaction to the criticisms levelled on the President, Adesina lambasted the Northern Elders.
“The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in a statement Sunday signed by its so-called Convener, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, alleged that the insecurity in some northern states of the country was an indication that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governors of those states have lost control over the protection of the people which is a constitutional duty.
“We are not surprised by this latest statement by Prof. Abdullahi, and our past position on what his group represents remains unchanged: a mere irritant and featherweight.
“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.
He described NEF as a quasi-organisation that boasts of no credible membership, with a leader akin to a General without troops.
“Before the 2019 presidential election, the one-man army called NEF had shown its antipathy against President Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together.
NEF is merely waving a flag that is at half-mast.
Adesina said President Buhari is well focused on giving Nigeria the right leadership he promised.
“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,” he said.
