NEF: We’ll Resist Any Attempt to Subvert Outcome of Presidential Election

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has warned that it was ready to counter any attempt to subvert the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

Convener  of the forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, who stated this yesterday in Abuja during the General Assembly of the forum, said the  Nigerian political environment must be based on democratic tenets only, and not power rotation.

Abdulahi stressed that going by the constitution of Nigeria, the north was qualified to contest the forthcoming presidential election, while also arguing that the region still has an outstanding of four years to rule going, by the number of years southern Nigeria has ruled the country since return of democracy in 1999.

Noting that the north has made more sacrifices for the unity of the country than any other part of the country, Abdulahi stated: “The north has paid its dues, if there is any part of this country that has made sacrifices for the unity of this country and for this country to call itself Nigeria as a country, there is no other section of the country that has contributed as much as the northern Nigerian.

“The issue shouldn’t have been that we are not qualified to contest, we have no right to contest, and certainly this is the reason why we are saying now that the issue in Nigeria political environment must be based on democratic tenets only.

“There will be no issue of reserving anything for anybody, if you win in an election, we accept, but if we win, there is no way you will deny us victory, no way, we will not accept that at all and we will be ready.”

On whether the region should contest the  presidential election, he said, “The constitution is very clear that I can contest 20 times and I can lose 20 times. But nothing should stop me from contesting election if I want to, but when you look at it in terms of ‘do me I do you’, ‘rub my back and I rub yours’, the north has rubbed more backs than its back being rubbed.

“Obasanjo couldn’t get 10,000 votes in front of his house. I said to the journalists that spoke to him rudely most of the times, I said he will be president in Nigeria by the votes of northern Nigeria and he did, we got paid back somehow, it wasn’t appreciated as such.

“Who voted Abiola? The North did in my sitting room to defeat Tofa. All these are sacrifices being made by northerners. And even if you are talking about the years in power from 1999 till date, Obasanjo eight years; Jonathan six, that is 14; Umaru two, and now Buhari eight years. So, I am being owed even in the number of years, four years.

“The issue should not have been we are not qualified to contest, we have no right to contest. Certainly, this is the reason we are saying now that the issue in Nigerian political environment, must be based on democratic tenets only. There should be no issue of reserving anything for anybody. If you win an election, you win on the basis of this thumbprint. If you win, we will accept.

“But for us to begin to see threats that if this happens, and we do not like it, we’ll do something negative, we are warning that the election will be contested hopefully free and fair, and credible. And anybody who wins the election must be accepted as the winner of the election, without sentiments. And if there is any attempt to subvert it, then we’ll be ready to also counter.”

Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, on his part, said the north was full of rhetoric and semantics, adding that, they sat down to discuss and lament, but nothing was done.

While faulting the leadership recruitment process, and that the overdependence of the north on presidency was the bane of the problem of the region, Mohammed stated: “We need a team, we need people that will give us a wake up call, all the aspects of life and living in the north are deplorable.

“Leadership recruitment is very bad, the elites are on each other’s neck. We, as governors, we have not established a peer review group that we’ll be discussing. We are so fragmented– ego, envy and malice have taken the order of the day.

“Any time we are given the opportunity, we don’t do our best and we don’t need the federal government to excel in the north. Our overdependence on the presidency and the Nigerian government is our problem. We have been at the centre for too long and we didn’t do much and that is why we are always struggling to be at the centre.”

Vice Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Datti-Ahmed decried the lack of  political will to tackle the problems facing the country.

He said: “Where you see the problem, we see the solution, we have already seen it. The terrorist, the bandits and armed robbers are not more formidable than constituted authorities; the fact of the matter is that there has never been that political will.

“Our records and history have shown we were able to create wealth, we did not derive money from the government, logically speaking, we know how to move Nigeria from consumption to production.”