ACF dissociates itself from communiqué expressing vote of no confidence in Buhari

Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has dissociated itself from a communiqué passing a vote of no confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari and other northern politicians. The Punch reports that a key member of the forum and leader of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, and 17 other northern groups at a summit on Saturday, March 24, had passed a vote of no confidence in President Buhari, noting that the President and other politicians in the region had failed the north.

NAIJ.com reports that Abdullahi, a former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was the convener of the summit held at the Arewa House, Kaduna. The groups went ahead to say that they were searching for “credible candidate” to replace the president. But on Thursday, March 29, the ACF distanced itself from the members who signed the Saturday, March 24, communiqué passing a vote of no confidence in Buhari and politicians from the region. The national publicity secretary of the ACF, Muhammad Biu, in statement on Thursday, March 29, in Kaduna, said the northern body was yet to decide on the president, noting that at the appropriate time, the north would tell Nigerians. The Forum said: “The attention of Arewa Consultative Forum has been drawn to the communiqué of the Northern Groups Summit held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, on Saturday 24th March, 2018, where the ACF was said to be a signatory to the communiqué. “For the avoidance of doubt, the ACF hereby states that it was neither involved in the preparation, nor participated in the said summit and did not mandate any of its members to represent the Forum. “ACF acknowledges the right of individuals or groups to freedom of association as enshrined in our constitution. Any member who claimed to have represented ACF or signed on behalf of the Forum did so on his own. “Furthermore, the views expressed in the said communique were those of the conveners and not those of ACF, which is an umbrella body for all northerners, irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious persuasions.