The recently celebrated endorsement of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, by Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has been described fake and fraud.
The Northern Elders’ endorsement had been claimed to be the endorsement of Northern Nigeria as their candidate, even though some leaders in the region have said consistently that there would be no consensus candidate in the region since both contestants are their own.
However, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, lampooned the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), led by former Professor Ango Abdullahi, who is former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
Abdullahi’s grouse with President Muhammadu Buhari which extended to the disposition of the NEF that he leads towards the President over the years is yet to be made clear. Nigerians who commented on his group’s endorsement of Atiku could not however be placed side by side reality on ground as, they said, people like Professor Ango Abdullahi should not be seen near celebration of corruption and impunity.
Speaking in broadcast news on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), monitored in Lagos on Tuesday, Dr. Mohammed described the endorsement as “fraudulent and undemocratic”.
Wondering how the Ango Abdullahi-led Northern Elders Forum arrived at that position, Mohammed attacked the former ABU VC saying he had no mandate of the North endorse Atiku.
He said there was no decision taken by the NEF to go into alliance with other regional groups, or to endorse or pass vote of no confidence on anybody.
He challenged those who took the position to produce any resolution indicating that.
“To the best of my knowledge, the resolution for unanimous endorsement was never discussed, was never tabled before any level of committee of the Northern Elders Forum.”
The Zaria based Abdullahi had last week addressed a press conference alongside leaders of the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, the Yoruba’s Afenifere Renewal Group, Middle Belt Forum and Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), where they endorsed Abubakar.
But Mohammed said though he has been an outspoken critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, he would not allow ‘unfairness’ to be meted out to him “through the back door”.
Mohammed, who is a founding member of the NEF said the organisation had deviated from the principles of its formation as a non-political pressure group.
He said the group is factionalised with two factions pursuing selfish agenda.
“What the two factions in the Northern Elders Forum are doing is nothing but politics. Some are doing it, they claim, in the name of the North, the way the defunct ACF was doing. Some are doing for their own material benefit, some are doing it because they are desperately searching for relevance.”
He criticised the alliance between the NEF and other similar groups, saying the alliance was not in the interest of the North.
“Nobody can come and say he has taken the trouble to go and take us to Ohaneze, Afenifere and PANDEF, and so on, and take instructions from leaders of those organisations as if we are errand boys. We are not their colony.
“They are not enemies of Buhari, their own animosity is directed at the entire North and whether Buhari is doing right or wrong; and there are a lot of things he is doing wrong, it doesn’t matter to them. In fact, what Buhari does wrong is a facilitation to them, it allows them to justify their agitation and demand the impossible.
“For you to now follow the ebb and flow of political happenings in this country simply because you want to belong to group of people with whom you have divergent interests, in my view, is a disservice to whatever cause you stand for. That is why we are saying that this thing is unholy.”
He said the NEF lacked the standing to recommend anybody for any position “as members have divergent political opinions”.
He said even when the organisation wanted to mediate among northerners eyeing the PDP ticket, it failed, alleging that issues were disregarded on the altar of money politics.
“When they went to Port Harcourt, what I expected, or what most of people expected was it was going to be matter of money; cash and carry. Whoever has the most formidable financial muscle would emerge as the candidate, and that was what exactly happened.
“If you ask anybody who was at the convention, what are the issues discussed in terms of platform, no such discussions took place. They went with their musicians. Danced their native songs, went round to meet people and give them money, sometimes openly. That was how they emerged. And it started first like a bazaar—you price, somebody prices higher than you, and then somebody comes higher.”
Mohammed said there was no way a candidate could be adopted unanimously by any group.
