The Presidency has knocked the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, for condemning President Muhammadu Buhari over the growing insecurity in the region and dissociating themselves from Democracy Day.
Recall that the group in a statement on Monday accused the federal government of not doing enough to protect the north from insurgents.
The CNG also asked the President to immediately sack the service chiefs or stop the killings in the region within 14 days, or it would “mobilise citizens to take to streets until the government is completely shut down.”
But in a statement on Tuesday by the Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu, the presidency has accused the group of being ignorant of the fact that terrorism has been curtailed in the country.
Shehu said the Buhari administration has done more than any other previous government to defeat the insurgency in the country.
According to the Presidency, the President was working hard to fix all the ailing areas in the country before it hands over a clean state of affairs to the youths.
He told the group to be grateful that Nigeria is practicing democracy where the right of free speech is guaranteed and protected or else they would have been arrested.
The statement read, “For as many times as he met youth leaders, President Buhari has said to them again and again that we are fixing the ailing state to hand it over to you.
“It then amounts to a grave mistake, for this group of otherwise promising northern stars to dissociate themselves from Democracy Day and, in effect de-cognizing democracy as a chosen system of government.
“Nigeria recognises Democracy Day because, for many decades since independence, the fight for the right for Nigerians to choose their own government in their own name was not complete. A prominent citizen of the country, Chief MKO Abiola died trying to do just this.
“When independence was won, and then swiftly replaced by unelected government, it was not much of a change.
“For the challenges Nigeria faces today, lack of universal suffrage or lack of elected politicians is not one of them.
“We are facing severe hardships because of the coronavirus pandemic. And we continue to face the challenges posed by the terrorists Boko Haram.
“Yet when groups such as the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) put out statements claiming that Democracy Day holds no purpose and the government somehow wishes for the northern states to be struggling it is embarrassing not for the government but for the group, its members and their sponsors.
“For a start, if the group dared to issue such a comment under non-democratic method they would have met a swift and harsh retribution from a dictatorial government.
“They should thank their stars that we are operating a truly democratic government where the rights of free speech are guaranteed and protected. “This government has done more than any other – elected or not elected – to curtail and beat back the terrorists. “Similarly, no government has done more to foster democracy and freedom of speech in Nigeria than the current administration.
“The fact that CNG is freely able to transmit garbage to the media in the hope they will be widely reported is a testament the freedom of expression and media liberty that exists in our country today.
“Equally, the fact that the government is issuing this statement, in response to the puerile message is a testament that today Nigeria is a country where disagreements can be aired publicly through the press, not through less gentlemanly methods used in the past.
“We hope that CNG will consider the facts and reconsider the unhelpful and inaccurate message their statements contain when issuing them in the future.”
