The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has distanced itself from the widely reported news that the Northern region regrets voting for President Bola Tinubu.
NEF in a statement by its Deputy Director General II, Salisu Mohammed, said the forum is not engaged in the politics of the 2027 election or decided on whom to support or not.
READ ALSO: We regret voting Tinubu, won’t repeat mistake in 2027, Northern Elders fume
Mohammed, however, expressed deep concern over alleged increased harassment and attacks on northerners conducting their legitimate businesses in southern Nigeria, particularly in the southeast by criminal elements.
He said the forum condemns these acts of alleged provocation against innocent citizens who have chosen to engage in economic activities in that part of the country.
NEF calls on President Bola Tinubu and relevant security agencies to take swift and decisive action to contain these criminals and prevent them from undermining national unity and cohesion.
READ ALSO: We regret voting Tinubu, won’t repeat mistake in 2027, Northern Elders fume
This call comes as a response to a widely circulated video on social media where suspected militias of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) were seen killing hundreds of cattle that belonged to northerners.
NEF denounces this despicable act, which has been shared across various social media platforms.
Lamenting that the elements are testing the elasticity of the country’s diversity and unity, the NEF described such act as sabotage against efforts to strengthen the bond of Nigerians from every part of the country to live in unity, peace and harmony.
He said: “In the same vein, the attention of NEF has been drawn to a statement credited to the Forum by media – that the North regrets voting for President Bola Tinubu. NEF wishes to distance itself from the statement as it did not emanate from the Forum as it is the opinion of the person in his personal capacity and not that of NEF.
“Thus, the statement credited to NEF does not reflect the position of the Forum as it has never sat and assessed performance or non-performance of Tinubu administration.
“The NEF considers it too early to be engaged in such distractions when NEF, like most Nigerians, are demanding good governance and dividends of democracy. NEF, for now prefers to, focus on advocating for what improves the northern region and Nigeria as a whole.”
NEF further charges leaders to always verify and authenticate information and treat issues within their specific contexts before making public pronouncement.
