The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) says southern politicians led by the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should be held responsible for the atrocities committed by the Muhammdu Buhari government.
The group stated that Tinubu and some southern leaders imposed President Buhari on Nigerians and presented him as the only alternative to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
In an interview with the Punch, CNG spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, stated that the North only supported the idea following the devastation of the region by Boko Haram insurgents.
Suleiman submitted that the Buhari government is a creation of the Southern political elites, denying claims that the current administration was created by the North.
He said, “Everyone knows that Buhari was not the candidate for the North in 2015. He was packaged by southern political forces right from the APC contraption to his victory at the primaries.
“When he was presented by the South as the only alternative to Jonathan, the North, which was groaning under the burden of Boko Haram’s bombs and bullets at that time, was left with no option.
“We all can testify that the North has been the major casualty of the policies of Buhari’s administration while the South is the major beneficiary. As far as the North is concerned, Buhari was not the candidate for the North but an arrangement made by the South to suit certain interests.”
Speaking further, Suleiman said that the South had benefitted more from the Buhari presidency than the North in terms of critical national appointments and infrastructural development.
“These appointments of northerners into critical positions cannot be a yardstick for judging a people’s development or prosperity.
“If that is the case, with all the propaganda about the lopsidedness in Buhari’s appointments into key security positions, why is the North facing the severest security situation than all the other regions?
“Being a northerner in office does not translate to preference in terms of service delivery. For all the North cares, these positions could as well be occupied by any other person from anywhere, but the North.”
