A GROUP, the Leaders of Thought in the North in Nigeria, has condemned the leader of the Northern Leaders Forum, Mallam Adamu Ciroma and the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari over what it described as their attempts “to throw the North in the flame of ethnic or tribal politics or any action that will create tension and violence in the North.”
In a statement issued yesterday and signed by its Convener/President, Prof Ahmed Muhammed and Secretary General, Dr Adamu Abdullahi, the group said: “We the Leaders of Thought in the North of Nigeria have watched with keen interest the electioneering of all the party candidates vying for the exalted position of the President of our great and very dear country and the action and utterances of some members of the Northern Leaders Forum especially on the issue of zoning.
“While we have identified serious contenders from just mere participants in the electoral contest, we, however, wish to make our position known on the issues of zoning and to also examine the utterances of some of the candidates in their campaigns as they relate to the North.
“We are aware that the campaign team of General Muhammadu Buhari, especially his running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has been trying to play the North against the South by saying that they would ensure that the North becomes the ‘Wild Wild North’ should the election be rigged in the zone. Since we expected the campaign team to disown the statement of Pastor Bakare and none was forthcoming, we have naturally assumed that he was merely echoing the thought of General Buhari who had also been calling for violence.
“We condemn any statement or attempt by any individual to throw the North in the flame of ethnic or tribal politics or any action that will create tension and violence in the North. General Buhari and his running mate are merely speaking for themselves. We have not forgotten that it was General Buhari and his military adventurers that truncated our great country’s march to democracy in December 31, 1983 in a coup d’etat that sacked the government of our illustrious son, His Excellency, Alhaji Shehu Usmanu Shagari.
“We cannot imagine the progress we would have made as a nation democratically had General Buhari and co not brutally brought governance to a standstill. We are still not sure why the North should support General Buhari or Pastor Bakare.
“We as the voice of the Northern elite and intelligentsia do not believe in zoning and have expressed our position to Mallam Adamu Ciroma and his group on every occasion. The North does not believe in zoning. Mallam Ciroma and his group are only working for themselves.
“We wish to commend both Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan on their campaigns. Both individuals have demonstrated maturity and decorum. These Nigerians have earned our trust and confidence, that they are not after the disintegration of Nigeria. President Jonathan has convinced us that he can be trusted with power and will protect the collective interest of Nigeria, including those of the North and South.
“We wish to state affirmatively that General Buhari does not represent any progressive interest in the North. He belongs to the cabal represented by Ciroma and co that has brought backwardness to our people.
We have therefore directed the people of Arewa to support President Goodluck Jonathan with the firm belief that Insha Allah in 2015, he will support Mallam Shekarau’s bid to lead our great country.
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