A socio-political group in the north, Northern Alternative Forum (NAF), has responded to recent media reports criticising the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a statement signed by its national chairman, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, the group popularly referred to as the Northern Mafias, expressed strong disapproval of what he called “baseless attacks” on the president and his chief of staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Ibrahim described a recent report on the front page of the Monday, September 2, 2024, edition of Daily Trust, alleging illegal oversight visits by Gbajabiamila as “preposterous, malicious, crude, and in bad taste.”
He accused the report’s authors of seeking to discredit the government and undermine its efforts to address the country’s challenges.
Ibrahim said, “Their aim is simply to give President Tinubu a bad name. For them, the plight of the people that the Tinubu administration is working tirelessly to address means nothing.
“They are spewing lies and unverified information. This is purely a distracting strategy to ensure the government fails. But their sinister plan will not work because Nigerians are not gullible. They know that this campaign of calumny against the renewed administration is for their selfish political interest ahead of 2027.
“It is quite ironic and curious that of all the political appointees in the country, the authors of the said report and their sponsors decided to pick on the president’s chief of staff, Right Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, a man who presided over parliamentary affairs as speaker and is ground in matters of oversight.
Even if it is true that he carried out an oversight function as CoS, it is in order as far as there are no illegalities or infractions of existing rules.
“There is nothing wrong with the chief of staff’s oversight visits as a political appointee, and there is no way he would have undertaken such visits without the nod of his principal, President Tinubu,” the director said.
Ibrahim further emphasised that the opposition should focus on constructive criticism and offering alternative solutions rather than spreading falsehoods.
NAF expressed confidence in the Tinubu administration and its reforms, saying, “Nigerians are beginning to see the genuine intention and the dividends of Tinubu’s breathtaking and bold reforms.
“It’s high time Nigerians abandoned ethnicity and regional politics, which is capable of causing chaos and division in the country, thereby distracting government and leading to more difficulties and hardship in the lives of Nigerians,” the group added.
Ibrahim further warned that persistent unfounded criticisms would only harm the opposition’s chances in the 2027 presidential elections because they expose their “bankruptcy of ideas to Nigerians through kangaroo criticisms and purported exclusive media reports”.