Contrary to reports, northern groups have denied asking President Muhammadu Buhari against seeking a re-election in 2019. The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) on Wednesday also denied asking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar not to contest presidential election.
According to NAN, the group described the report as misrepresentation. Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, spokesman of CNG, said in a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday that the CNG did not discuss individual aspiration at its two-day summit in Kaduna as reported in the media. According to him, the communiqué only highlighted its support for structural reforms with condition that only youths between ages 18 and 60 should represent the North.
“The attention of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has been drawn to certain misrepresentations of parts of its communiqué of May 21, 2018 by a section of the media. While we do not want to believe that the misrepresentations, though very fundamental, were maliciously made, we nevertheless owe the public a duty to straighten the records.
At the end of our two-day summit at Arewa House, Kaduna, a five-page communiqué was read by our spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, in which we categorically stated that the North fully supports the restructuring of the country and shall be prepared to represent itself in any debate thereon. Our coalition said the North supported structural reforms, with certain conditions,’’ he said.
According to him, one of the terms is that those who will carry the banner to any future discussion with regards to Nigerian federal arrangement should be within the 18 to 60 years bracket.
“We said this out of a patriotic conviction that the older men who have been speaking and running the country since independence should cease to take the front seats at such national discourses. The coalition was, however, quite surprised by some reports by a section of the media, tending to suggest that we have asked certain aspirants to the 2019 presidency to shelve their ambition.
