We don’t want Military Intervention but a President that can Protect Us-NEF

Few weeks ago, after the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) asked President Buhari to resign because of his failure to protect Nigerians from the worsening insecurity problem in the country, the NEF spokesman, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed has shed more light about the reactions they got from people who suggested their call for president Buhari’s resignation means they want the military to take over government.

Dr Ahmed who spoke today on the morning show of Arise TV was asked by Dr Reuben Abati to respond to a poll he is conducting on his Twitter page asking his followers if they think President Buhari can improve the security of Nigerians.

In his response, the NEF spokesman explained what the survey is about while adding that it is a simple poll. He said when he checked in the last one hour, about 75% of Nigerians said NO, about 13% said YES, while about 10% said they don’t know. He said the survey is an honest question posted to get the reactions of Nigerians. Speaking on the reasons for the poll, he said, “there is a reason why I posted it [the survey]. People said we [the NEF] is too hard [on the president].”

See result of the poll with 12 minutes remaining below:

He pointed to the time President Buhari asked former president Goodluck Jonathan to resign in 2013 because he was incapable of protecting Nigerians.

He said, “people kept saying you want him [Buhari] to resign, you want the military to take over? Certainly we don’t want the military to take over. The military has no business governing us. The job of the military is to fight. That’s their job and they should focus on their job. We don’t want the military to take over, we want a president who will do what he is voted to do, to protect Nigerians. If he cannot protect Nigerians, then he should step down for whatever reasons whether it is medical or physical or whatever. You cannot continue to be the president of Nigeria and commander of the armed forces and consistently fail to protect us.”

The presidency in the past has however dismissed criticisms directed at it by the NEF describing the organization as body of irritants and featherweights.