By Chukwudi Nweje

It described as unfortunate and saddening the statement credited to the spokesman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed that Northern Nigeria has “the numbers” to retain the presidency of Nigeria perpetually.

In a statement, yesterday, IPN converner, Mazi Nnamdi Iroegbu said Ahmed does not have the mandate to speak for Northern Nigeria as he is a “migrant Fulani from Mauritania “

He added that the North is not homogeneous, even as the Hausa, not the Fulani, who Ahmed represent is a minority ethnic group in North and indeed the whole Nigeria.

He said, “It is unfortunate and saddening that Alhaji Hakeem, a migrant Fulani man from Mauritania, claims to be speaking the minds of the indigenous Nigerians of Northern extraction on the subject that he is not even qualified to speak about. It is an undisputed fact that at no time did Alhaji Hakeem sought nor received mandate of Northern Nigerians to speak for them on the 2023 Presidential race. For the sake of emphasis, the Hausa ethnic nationality is the predominant group in Northern Nigeria. In fact, the Fulani ethnic community, which Alhaji Hakeem is using to disguise as North, is actually a minority ethnic group in Nigeria, hence, cannot solely determine which ethnic nationality gets what, when and how in Nigeria.”

The group cautioned the NEF spokesman against stockong ethnic tension and  called on all Nigerians, especially the North to reject what he called “the bigotry” being spread by the NEF spokesman and embrace power shift to the South in 2023.

He further said, ” IPN calls on all Nigerians, especially people of Fulani stock, to reject Alhaji Hakeem and his bigotry, and embrace the call for power shift to Southern Nigeria after the presidential tenure of the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari. IPN, further uses this platform to caution Alhaji Hakeem against making unguarded utterances and stoking ethnic tension that will consume innocent indigenous Nigerians in pursuit of his selfish political agenda.”

The group urged Nigerians to shun violence and embrace peace as the citizens have no other place to seek refuge in case of war.

“We cannot tolerate hate speech because we the indigenous Nigerians have no other country to run to in time of crisis.”

He reiterated that equity and justice dictates that the presidency of Nigeria should be zoned to the South East in 2023.

He added, “IPN restates its stance that in the interest of peace, equity, fairness and hustice, the Southern part of the country should be supported to produce Nigeria’s next president come 2023, particularly from the South East.”

The group commended Nigerians from across the geopolitical zones who are work tirelessly to save the country from collapse.

“IPN commends patriotic Nigerians across the country, including elder statesmen and traditional leaders, that are working painstakingly to rescue Nigeria from the maladministration of President Buhari, and urges all Nigerians to continue to put every mechanism in place to ensure that the country is salvaged from its present precarious state”, IPN said.

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Posted by admin on Sep 25 2021. Filed under Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry