Apparently dissatisfied over recent attack by Northern Elders Forum on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ,the Progressive Northern Elements have come out strongly to back the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Mohammed Matawalle for lambasting the Northern Elders Forum.
The Northern Elders Forum came under fire for saying it regretted supporting President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general election and will not support him in 2027 if he decides to contest.
Reacting to the comment , the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle had described NEF as political burden on the North.
However, the Progressive Northern Elements in a press statement signed by the Chairman ,Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Modibbo and made available to journalists in Kaduna today, the group said it’s too early for Northern Elders Forum to start finding fault lines in a President it supported to win election .
According to the group, President is doing well in our estimation and there is no reason for this attack from NEF.
The statement further reads :”Rather than stirring unnecessary up tension and over heating the polity without recourse to the sustained efforts to make Nigeria, especially the north ,a more economically vibrant region ,we expect the north to rally round President Tinubu led administration to succeed .
“We have noticed Tinubu’s sincerity and commitment to tackling the prolonged security challenges facing the north and frantic efforts towards revamping the economy the entire country .
“So,we were worried to hear our northern elders speaking too early when former President Buhari from the northern extraction, exhausted 8 years in office with several unresolved challenges ranging from severe insecurity, high unemployment , collapsed of agriculture activities due banditry,and bad economy, yet the voice of the Northern Elders was not heard.
“At this point,we have no option than to join Matawalle to say members of NEF lack the authority to speak for the entire region as they have become political burden to Northerners.
“We also agreed with Matawalle when he said the so-called Northern Elders Forum are a group of political paperweights and selfish individuals,who cared less about development of the region.We vow that any destructive journey that will bring the North to disrepute by NEF for personal and selfish gains will be met with stuff resistance.
“The former Zamfara Governor was equally right, when he said NEF is just a group seeking to erode other people’s rights in order to be recognised or made relevant in the scheme of things despite the failure of their sponsored candidates in the 2023 general elections.”
While stating that the Northern Elders Forum should know that an average northerner is wiser now and can’t be cajoled to fight any southerner in power as President, the group said, “Our position is clear , we believe in any government or leader that will the north and every other region better. Nothing less”
” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the February 2023 presidential election convincingly and has a four-year tenure to execute his campaign Promises to Nigerians, until then , he must be allowed to work without distractions.”