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Northern Elders renew demand for Buhari’s resignation over insecurity

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Tuesday renewed its demand for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation over worsening insecurity in the country, particularly in the north.

In a statement issued by its Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, NEF asked the President to step down from his position over the government’s inability to secure the lives and properties of Nigerians.

This is the third time since 2020 the group had asked Buhari to resign as Nigeria’s President over escalating insecurity across the country.

The statement read: “The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari does not appear to have answers to the challenges of security to which we are exposed.

“We cannot continue to live and die under the dictates of killers, kidnappers, rapists and sundry criminal groups that have deprived us of our rights to live in peace and security.

Our constitution has provisions for leaders to voluntarily step down if they are challenged by personal reasons or they prove incapable of leading.

It is now time for President Buhari to seriously consider that option, since his leadership has proved spectacularly incapable of providing security over Nigerians.

“Our Forum is aware of the weight of this advice, and it is also aware that we cannot continue to live under these conditions until 2023 when President Buhari’s term ends.”

The NEF decried the killings and assaults on Nigerian communities which have now become a daily occurrence in the country.

“Killers and other criminals appear to have sensed a paralyzing vacuum at the highest levels of leadership, and they grow more confident and acquire more competence in subverting the state and our security.

“Nigerians have shed enough tears and blood without an appropriate response from those with responsibilities to protect us,” it added.

The Northern Elders Forum on Tuesday rejected the supposed imposition by the Southern Governors Forum over the issue of rotational presidency amongst the zones.

This issue has polarised opinions among stakeholders which snowballed into a war of words between the southern and northern governors.

However, in his statement during an interview on AriseTV monitored by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday, the NEF Deputy Chairman, Yahaya Kwande slammed the stance of the Southern Governors, tagging it an imposition at variance with the constitution.

“They didn’t demand that it should come to the North; they are charging stakeholders to follow the constitution. Nobody ought to dictate where the President should come from. The statement of the SGF is tantamount to sowing division within the country,” Kwande declared in response to the communique issued by the Northern Governors Forum.

The NGF had described as unconstitutional the power shift canvassed by their Southern counterparts and groups in the region during a meeting on Monday, also attended by Kwande and Northern monarchs.

Kwande also detailed how the zoning arrangement started by delving into history.

The question of differences between the regions has been on for a long time regarding zoning and other issues with the past arrangement in the National Party of Nigeria that brought Shagari. This led to a payback regarding the emergence of Obasanjo in 1999 with the North unanimously supporting the South, coupled with the death of MKO Abiola.

“The arrangement is not a constitutional arrangement but a plan within the parties due to sympathies over MKO Abiola’s death. I emphasize that it was a PDP arrangement that was a gimmick to win the election.

“This arrangement was scuttled by former President Goodluck Jonathan who refused to leave office after the death of his principal, Yar’adua.

“Buhari succeeded on the APC which has no arrangement of such but the PDP is still waiting for its four years used by Goodluck.

No region can win the election without the other which is why the statements of coercion by the governors are uncalled for. There must be massive lobbying in order for stakeholders to understand the benefits of voting for your region.”