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The economic recession in Nigeria has taken its toll on the northerners who during the 2015 general election pledged their unflinching support to President Muhammadu Buhari. Northern leaders gathered on Monday in Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital and told President Muhammadu Buhari to work harder at fixing the nation’s economy because there was hunger and starvation in the land.
Scholarly reports have always raised alarms about the skyrocketing rate of poverty in the northern part of the country which has been compounded by the present economic squeeze.
The northern leaders, however, said that despite the current economic woes characterising the President Buhari’s administration, their votes for him (Buhari) in the 2015 presidential election were never wasted, Punch reports.
If Buhari or any other northerner presented himself for Presidency in 2019, they said, they would gladly vote for the individual. A former Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of the northern elders at the Northern Group’s Summit organised by the Northern Elders Forum in Kaduna on Monday.
Besides, Baba-Ahmed said the summit was being held in Kaduna because of the prevailing peace brought about by the decimation of the Boko Haram sect by the Buhari administration.
He said, “Today, we meet in Kaduna in a vastly-improved security atmosphere, with the Boko Haram sect pinned to enclaves. Some will say thank you to President Buhari; we will say, you have delivered on one of your promises, which was to improve our security.”
The former INEC boss, however, reminded the President that there was hunger and starvation in the land.
He said, “We will not join those who say President Buhari should stop reminding us of a past that is haunting us today. But we will join those who remind him daily that hunger is stalking millions of homes. Inflation is making life difficult by the day. People are losing their jobs. Businesses are closing down. Infrastructure is decaying. Young Nigerians are losing hope of being employed. Our hospitals are full of people who suffer mysterious illnesses, and they cannot afford the fees.”
The northern leaders, however, said that despite the current economic woes characterising the President Buhari’s administration, their votes for him (Buhari) in the 2015 presidential election were never wasted, Punch reports.
If Buhari or any other northerner presented himself for Presidency in 2019, they said, they would gladly vote for the individual. A former Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of the northern elders at the Northern Group’s Summit organised by the Northern Elders Forum in Kaduna on Monday.
Besides, Baba-Ahmed said the summit was being held in Kaduna because of the prevailing peace brought about by the decimation of the Boko Haram sect by the Buhari administration.
He said, “Today, we meet in Kaduna in a vastly-improved security atmosphere, with the Boko Haram sect pinned to enclaves. Some will say thank you to President Buhari; we will say, you have delivered on one of your promises, which was to improve our security.”
The former INEC boss, however, reminded the President that there was hunger and starvation in the land.
He said, “We will not join those who say President Buhari should stop reminding us of a past that is haunting us today. But we will join those who remind him daily that hunger is stalking millions of homes. Inflation is making life difficult by the day. People are losing their jobs. Businesses are closing down. Infrastructure is decaying. Young Nigerians are losing hope of being employed. Our hospitals are full of people who suffer mysterious illnesses, and they cannot afford the fees.”
Meanwhile, the failure of the All Progressives Congress-led administration to surmount the economic crisis has dealt a fatal blow on the popularity of the party as supporters have been left jaded.
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