By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Coalition of Concerned Northern Groups (CCNG), has expressed concerns over the statement made by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) that the North will not vote for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
CCNG described the statement, “as wrongly depicting the government of President Bola Tinubu”.
The President of the group, Muhammad Ibrahim, in a statement issued on Saturday, said, “The Coalition of Concerned Northern Groups (CCNG) finds it pertinent to respond to the recent ill-fated statement made public by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) wrongly depicting the president Bola Ahmad Tinubu.”
The spokesperson of the NEF had expressed the regret of the forum for supporting and voting for Tinubu without clearly stating why, saying that the group’s spokesperson rattled that the North will not accept a second-term for Tinubu.
He drew the attention of the NEF that it is a very unwise move for it to engage in what he called, “such a slander”, saying that now that the hard work of the President is seen by Nigerians to be manifesting practically.
He lamented, “It baffles us that the NEF was silent when the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime killed hundreds of innocent men, women and children when it clamped down on Shi’ites members in Kaduna in 2015. Were they not northerners that were murdered in an extrajudicial manner?
“Was it not during the Buhari regime that the banditry became more prominent in the Northwest, a situation that has virtually killed the farming profession in the region and destroyed lives and property. Yet the NEF never rose against that.”
Muhammad noted that the country is hardly two years into the regime that started on a very difficult footing with many things to be put aright after being detracted by the immediate past regime, lamenting it would be un-elderly of an elders’ forum to demonize the regime instead of giving it the benefit of doubt.
“Reviewing the NEF claims that they mobilized the north in favour of President Tinubu, even as his major contender, Atiku Abubakar was a northerner, cannot be substantiated because they have no such influence over the electorate in the region,” he explained.
In comparison with the Buhari regime, he said that the NEF is not fair to President Tinubu who is currently enjoying the goodwill of Nigerians because of his commitment to national development and progress.
The group stated categorically that the CCNG, a coalition of concerned Northern Groups, is passing a vote of confidence on President Bola Ahmad Tinubu while calling on the NEF to reconsider it’s stance in the interest of the north and the northerners.
