The presidency has described the Northern Elders Forum as a general without troops, even as it accused Professor Ango Abdullahi, the Forum’s chairman of acting alone.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina was reacting to an earlier statement by Professor Abdullahi who described the Buhari administration as lacking the capacity and competence to counter the high level insecurity bedevilling the country.
Adesina said the NEF has no credible members adding: “former vice chancellor signed the statement under the banner of Northern Elders Forum (NEF). Hearing that title, you would think the body was a conglomeration of true elders. But the truth is that NEF is just Ango Abdullahi, and Ango Abdullahi is NEF. It is a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership, and its leader is akin to a General without troops.
“Before the 2019 presidential election, the one-man army called NEF had shown its antipathy against President Muhammadu Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together.
“NEF is merely waving a flag that is at half-mast. President Buhari steadily and steadfastly focuses on the task of retooling Nigeria, and discerning Nigerians know the true state of the nation. They don’t need a paper tiger to tell them anything”.