Pro-Buhari group slams northern elders over criticism of President

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has berated the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) over what it alleged were false statements against the current administration.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that the NEF’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said that Nigerians were regretting electing Buhari instead of Jonathan in 2015.

However, the BMO in its statement issued on Thursday by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, mocked the Northern group for what it said were inconsequential views.

“We need to let Nigerians know that the so-called Northern Elders Forum is a group of fewer than five people whose views on important national issues are not supported by the generality of northerners, and do not have any legitimacy. They are merely serving the interests of few disgruntled politicians.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we want to state that Baba-Ahmed is on a revenge mission because he was not appointed into the administration of President Buhari. It is also common knowledge that he is running errands for his former boss, Bukola Saraki, under whom, as president of the Senate, he served as the chief of staff.

Read also: ‘Stop distracting Nigerian govt with amnesty demand for bandits,’ Pro-Buhari group tells Gumi

“We are not surprised that after he fell out of favour with the administration of President Buhari, he has now resorted to making wild allegations against the Buhari administration, and has embarked on using the opposition media, such as Sahara Reporters, to make vitriolic remarks and comments against an administration that has turned things around for good in the country,” the statement from the BMO read.

In further comparison to the previous administration, the BMO noted that President Muhammadu Buhari has rehabilitated a substantial part of the country’s infrastructure while raising “the bar in the fight against corruption, as well as become the nightmare of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.

“Today, many of the bad guys are begging to surrender, and the reason is simple: the security agencies under the direction of Buhari are taking the war to their hideouts and enclaves.

“We also want to remind the NEF that the country’s economy has rebounded with the various measures already put in place to diversify. Recently the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which was previously infamous for slease and waste, declared profit, and this is unprecedented in the history of the corporation.

“In fact, a lot is happening across the country and only a blind organisation like NEF has chosen to be myopic to the positive developments in the country,” it added.

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