The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said Sunday it had not endorsed General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) North’s candidate in the 2015 election.
The body disassociated itself from the position canvassed by it Chairman Alhaj Coomasie was his personalone.
ACF, in a statement on Sunday, said the front page caption, “Buhari is North’s Candidate,” by a national newspaper on Saturday did not represent its position.
According to the statement, signed by a member of the ACF national executive Council and publicity secretary of Kaduna chapter of the forum, Salisu Garba, ACF is a non-political umpire of northern socio-cultural association, which speaks for the socio-economic wellbeing of the North and its peoples, irrespective of political affiliations, religion or creed.
“This is to say that devoid of overt partisanship, ACF stands for anything that furthers the course of the region, based on the principles of justice, equity and fairness.
“To do otherwise will portray the forum as a political bigot and therefore susceptible to manipulation.This should be avoided by all stakeholders of the forum.
“The position attributed to forum’s chairman on page two of the paper would perhaps be safe to be imagined to be a personal one to Ibrahim Coomassie, because ACF does not and should not stand for a particular presidential candidate from North, without due consideration to the other candidate(s) from the region, who are equally vying for the presidency from other political parties.”
The ACF said whoever those candidates may be; they are their sons or daughters and deserved the same recognition accorded to Buhari.
“A vivid example is Alhaji Shettima Yerima, who picked the presidential ticket of the Youth Democratic Party (YDP). By endorsing General Buhari as published, ACF is literally denying Alhaji Yerima as the son of the North, a position that is tantamount to injustice disregard for equity and fair play, which ACF is opposed to.”
The statement said another aspect of critical concern was the position of the Vice President, who was also of Northern extraction and adopted by the ruling party that deserved consideration by by ACF.
The statement expressed that the ACF Chairman, Coomassie was quoted out of context as ACF executive did not sit to categorically endorse General Buhari.
“It should be advised therefore that until ACF executive releases it’s official position, the issue of endorsement of any particular presidential candidate for the 2015 elections should be put to rest for now.”
