NEF to Buhari: Assert Your Authority, Don’t Allow IPOB Intimidate, Prevent Nigerians from Voting
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assert its legitimate authority on any lawless group in any part of the country, especially the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) and ensure that voters are not prevented or threatened.
The Director of Publicity and Advocacy of the forum, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, in a statement issued Tuesday, decried a serious rise in the pitch of groups that threaten the conduct of the elections, particularly from violent groups in South-eastern states.
The group lamented the deafening silence from leaders, elders and politicians from the region and other parts of Nigeria over these dangerous threats, which it said was deeply disturbing.
The forum stressed that Nigerians want a credible election and a peaceful transition to the next administration, saying no group should be allowed to plunge the nation into deeper crises by tolerating threats to the elections and peace in the country.
It said: “These threats are being followed by actual attacks on government buildings and killings, including killing of policemen in the region. Without a robust challenge of these dangerous trends, those behind these lawless acts are likely to assume that they will succeed.
“Any attempt to interfere in the rights of Nigerians to participate in the election of their leaders is a serious assault on the sovereignty of Nigeria and an act that must be resisted.”
The forum stated that threat to the elections was a threat to the democratic system, and the very foundations on which the nation rests, adding that If it succeeds, the threat would signal the start of other crises the country may not recover from.
“The forum calls on the administration of President Buhari to assert its legitimate authority on any lawless group in any part of the country and ensure that voters are not prevented or threatened,” it added.
The forum noted that leaders must openly condemn these outrageous threats and assure citizens who want to vote that they could do so.
It stated that politicians who want to lead must step out and condemn these threats.
It said for the avoidance of doubt, the threats from groups in the South-east are cowardly and childish, stressing that those behind them should know that they will be resisted.
The forum noted that it has been consistent with its position and other patriotic groups that the 2023 elections must hold throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria.
