Reacting to NEF, Adesina described the forum as a mere irritant and featherweight group without credible membership.
The Coalition of Northern Groups has slammed Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, for defending his boss’ inability to put an end to killings of Nigerians in the Northern part of the country.
The group slammed Adesina for his comments against the Northern Elders Forum and Ango Abdullahi, convener of the forum, after the group said the situation in Northern Nigeria was getting worse by the day.
Reacting to NEF, Adesina described the forum as a mere irritant and featherweight group without credible membership.
He said, “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.”
The coalition in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said it was shocked, describing Adesina’s reply on behalf of the Presidency as “contemptuous, irresponsible and lazy response”.
Suleiman also said that the responses “only exposes Adesina's hypocritical inconsistency by deliberately ridiculing his master, the President, in the guise of protecting his interest”.
He said, “Adesina in desperate haste to defend the indefensible only succeeded in exposing himself as an ethnic bigot with an endemic hatred for other non-Yoruba ethnicities to the point of rejoicing over the killings of innocent Northerners due to the incapacity of the government he serves.
“Our coalition is not surprised that Mr Adesina stopped at childish insults because he has nothing with which he can defend the Presidency against the position of the NEF, to wit, that the Federal Government has lost control over the security of lives and property of Northerners and Northerners are fed up with being killed by an administration they helped elect.
“The nation knows the integrity and commitment of members of NEF, the group that had consistently stood for the protection of the interests of Northerners.
“Adesina's ignorance in this regard may be tolerated because he works in an environment that puts little store in respecting loyalty and service to the nation.
“Adesina’s response is therefore a sad reminder of the type of people who serve President Buhari. Between their poor service to him and his seeming insistence on retaining liabilities around him, Nigerians do not need to wonder why the North in particular and the country, in general, are in the state they are.”
The coalition saluted members of the NEF and commended their fearless commitment to the interests of Northerners.
He said, “We urge them to continue with their plans to mobilize other groups and associations and create a momentum that should result in relief to the on-going slaughter of our brothers and sisters in the North.
“Typical of the crowd around the old general, Adesina could not exempt the administration of the facts laid out by the Northern elders beyond irresponsible, clumsy and indecorous gaffes devoid of the true essence of the matter.”