The presidency on Sunday described the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as a mere irritant and featherweight group that has always been antagonistic to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group had on Sunday, in a statement signed by its Convener, Professor Ango Abdullahi, former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), criticised President Buhari for failing the north and allowing insecurity fester under his watch
However, reacting to the statement on Sunday, Femi Adesina, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said the NEF was just a name and did not exist as a group.
He said, “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. It is a quasi-organisation 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 Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together.
“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.”
