Buhari was a mistake we should not repeat – NEF

The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a mistake the region will not repeat again, not only for the North but for the entire country.

The NEF, in a statement on Saturday by its Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said Buhari is a big disappointment and Nigerians should not repeat the mistake of voting for just any candidate based on sentiment as it was the case during the last election.

The apex northern body which rose from a meeting of prominent northern leaders of thought and groups held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, said a northerner and his southern counterpart have equal rights to vie for the nation’s number one office in the 2023 presidential race, advising that the northern region will only vote for a competent president regardless of where he or she comes from.

Baba-Ahmed also warned that no northern presidential candidate should take the region for granted in the 2023 race, as that was how the region ended up with what he described as the ‘Buhari mistake’.

“No northerner should take us for granted. That’s how we ended up with President Buhari. We don’t want to repeat the same mistake.

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“If you must be a northerner who’s better than all the candidates; for us, that’s the bottom line. It’s not enough to be a northerner, you have to be the best.

“You have to be the best for the North and you have to be the best for the rest of Nigeria.

“We are looking for a Nigerian President. If he comes from the North, fine, but he must be voted for by Nigerians and he must be good and he must be better than all the others. That’s what we are looking for.

“We don’t want to end up with the Buhari disappointment again.

His administration has scored very low points in all aspects ranging from the worsening insecurity, corruption, to the sorry state of the nation’s economy,” Baba-Ahmed said.