You’re a General without troops’ – Presidency fires back at Northern Elders Forum

The Presidency has launched a counter-attack on the Prof. Ango Abdullahi-led Northern Elders Forum, NEF.

NEF had on Sunday described the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as a total failure, adding that it warned Nigerians before 2019 election that Buhari has nothing to offer.

NEF said Buhari has not been able to handle the security, economic and other biting issues facing the nation.

However, reacting in a statement signed by Femi Adesina on Sunday, the Presidency described the forum as a one-man business.

It said, “Professor Ango Abdullahi on Sunday signed a long-winding statement on many issues relating to the North, and purportedly to the country.

“The 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.”