Politics

Insecurity: Why Northern Elders Are Angry With Buhari – Femi Adesina

Published

3 years ago

April 15, 2022

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has knocked the Northern Elders Forum for asking the President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over his handling of insecurity challenges bedeviling the country.

This is as he also alleged that the NEF position was borne out of the members’ frustration after they allegedly failed to be part of Buhari’s regime.

Adesina revealed this in an article titled, ‘Hiding under the umbrella of insecurity’, and shared on his official Facebook page on Thursday.

The PUNCH reports that NEF had on Tuesday asked Buhari to resign for failing to provide security in the country. The forum made the demand in a statement by its spokesperson, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.

It said it was disappointing that after nearly seven years of being in office, Buhari still has no answers to security challenges across the country.

The statement read in part, “The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari does not appear to have answers to the challenges of security to which we are exposed.

“We cannot continue to live and die under the dictates of killers, kidnappers, rapists, and sundry criminal groups that have deprived us of our rights to live in peace and security.

“Our constitution has provisions for leaders to voluntarily step down if they are challenged by personal reasons or they prove incapable of leading.”

But reacting to the NEF’s position in his article, Adesina alleged that NEF was peopled with “self-seeking individuals” who had hoped will get the better of the regime after Buhari’s electoral victory in 2015.

He wrote, “The point of interest today is the hackneyed calls on President Buhari to resign over the country’s security challenges, the latest coming from a so-called Northern Elders Forum (NEF), a group I’d once described as “Generals without troops.”

“The Forum is largely made of angry, bitter, self-seeking individuals, who had thought they would be leading President Buhari by the nose when he emerged in 2015. In fact, key personalities in the group made strenuous efforts to be part of the administration. When they didn’t succeed, they became adversaries.

“It is on record that NEF had always opposed the Buhari administration since its gambit failed, and before the 2019 presidential election, it openly endorsed Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party as next President.

“And that completely vitiates whatever position the Forum adopts today. It is partisan, bilious, by no means neutral. It is from a self-serving standpoint.”

Furthermore, the presidential aide argued that there were issues of insecurity globally and that the President was sparing no effort in securing Nigeria and Nigerians.

“Between 2009 and 2022, there were at least 271 mass shootings in United States of America, resulting in 1,518 people killed, and 980 wounded. Just this week, there has been the Brooklyn Subway Shooting, in which at least 23 people were critically injured.

“vIn all these, did you hear calls for the resignation of any American President? It is on record that last year was the deadliest in a decade, in terms of mass shootings. Have you heard of calls for the resignation of President Joe Biden by a caterwauling band? No.”

“Every life is important. No single life should be taken wantonly. Not in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and definitely not in Nigeria. And when challenges occur, as we currently have, it should not be turned to a leaky political umbrella, from under which you hide to express hatred and malice.

“That is what is happening in Nigeria today. Individuals, groups, organizations, political parties, who had been against President Muhammadu Buhari, and who had been given bloody noses at the polls, are now using the smokescreen of insecurity to vent their spleen.

“We failed to oust him through the ballot box, let’s run him out of town by another means. Let’s instigate the country against him. But majority of Nigerians know better.”

Related Topics:#Femi Adesina Buhari Northern Elders

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Politics

CSO, PDP Bicker Over Fagbemi’s Stand On Osun LG Crisis

Published

10 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

An Osun-based civil society group, The Osun Masterminds, has urged the State Government to respect the opinion of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, regarding the leadership crisis rocking local government areas in the state.

The group said Fagbemi, being the number one law officer of the federation, his opinions on issues relating to law are not just official, but are also binding.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director of the group, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, while speaking with journalists at the monthly media briefing of the organisation held in Osogbo on Friday.

Oyedokun-Alli, who said accused the state government of disregard for, not just the Appeal Court, but also the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, adding that the group has studied several legal positions on the Osun local government disputes and came to the conclusion that the government was swimming against the tide of clear court pronouncements.

“We are to point out, however, that the utter disregard for, not just the Appeal Court, but also the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, by the Osun State Government is a matter of grave concern. Where we understand that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, is the number one Law Officer of the Federation, we must realise that his opinions are not just official, they are also binding.

“We have studied several legal positions on this matter, especially from highly revered silks who have dissected the pronouncements of the Court, and one thing remains obvious – the Osun State Government is swimming against the tide of clear Court pronouncements.

“The question that begs answers, however, is why the Osun State Government is so unwilling to work with Local Government Chairmen elected under a different political platform. Where we respect the principles of separation of powers, should we not be willing to work together even if the political parties are not the same? Has the APC-led Federal Government refused to work with the Adeleke Government because it is of the PDP?”, Oyedokun-Alli said.

Calling on the stakeholders to prevail on the Osun State Government to end the LG crisis, Oyedokun-Alli, however, urged the residents, regardless of party affiliation, to cohabitate in peace.

Responding to issues raised by the group, the spokesperson for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Oladele Bamiji, said TOM was a partisan organisation that has consistently supported the All Progressives Congress in the state.

Bamiji further said, “Their so-called ‘civil society’ posturing has long collapsed under the weight of its hypocrisy and shameless servitude to the dictates of APC in Osun and beyond, and it is sad they are dead to their dented image out there.

“TOM has again confirmed to the people of Osun that it is nothing but a busy body propaganda irritant of the APC, issuing monthly rankings, not out of civic concern but to earn its monthly stipend from its political sponsors.

“We find it laughable and frankly disturbing that any group claiming to possess civic literacy would hold binding the personal opinion of a political appointee like the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, over and above the ruling of a competent court of law.”
(PUNCH)

Politics

BREAKING: Confusion As APC Chair, Ganduje Resigns

Published

15 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, has resigned from his position, Saturday Vanguard has learned.

Although the exact circumstances surrounding his resignation remain unclear as of press time, a senior party official confirmed the development, stating simply, “Yes, it is true. He has resigned.”

Sources revealed that Ganduje’s personal belongings were earlier moved from his office at the APC national secretariat, further fueling speculation.

The development has thrown the party’s headquarters into confusion, with staff and visitors visibly shocked by the unexpected news.

Politics

‘Peace Has Returned To Rivers’ — Wike, Fubara Speak After Meeting Tinubu

Published

20 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

After months of political tension and division in Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, have publicly declared an end to their rift, assuring residents that peace has finally returned.

The truce followed a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Thursday night, where both leaders, along with other stakeholders, reached a resolution to work together for the state’s progress.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, expressed gratitude to God for the breakthrough.

Wike said, “I want to give God the glory that today is the 26th of June 2025, that peace has finally returned to the state. We all agreed to work together with the governor, and the governor also agreed to work together with all of us. We are members of the same political family.”

He acknowledged that disagreements are part of politics but emphasised that the resolution marked a fresh start for the state.

He said, “Just like humans, you have disagreements, and then you also have a time to also settle your disagreements, and that has been finally concluded today, and we have come to report to Mr President that is what we have agreed.

“So for me, everything is over, and I enjoin everybody to work together with everybody. There is no more acrimony; there is nothing to say. We have disagreed; we have all agreed on everything, so thank God. For me, it’s a day we have to thank almighty God.”

Governor Fubara, who also spoke to journalists, said the return of peace is crucial to the state’s development.

He said, “For me, it’s very important that this day has come to be. What we need for the progress of Rivers State is peace, and by the special grace of God this night, with the help of Mr President and the agreement of the leaders of the state, peace has returned to Rivers State.”

Fubara pledged to do everything within his power to sustain the peace, describing it as a step toward lasting stability and governance in the oil-rich state.