Don’t Play Into Yahaya Bello’s Hands, Arewa Youth Vanguard Cautions ACF

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: The Arewa Youth Vanguard, ( AYV) has cautioned the Arewa Consultative Forum, ( ACF) to be wary of the alleged plans by Yahaya Bello, the outgoing Governor of Kogi state, to remove from office, the current ACF chairman Chief Gabriel Aduku.

AYV made this call in a statement Monday, signed by Alh. Abdulsamad Babayo, Kazayat Aminu, National Leader and General Secretary respectively

” Our attention has been drawn to overt and covert measures orchestrated by Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the outgoing Governor of Kogi State to mortally injure the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) through the unwarranted attempt to remove Chief Arc. Gabriel Aduku, its Chairman who assumed the office only recently.

According to AYV, ” The Governor’s grouse with Chief Gabriel Aduku who we understand also doubles as the Acting Chairman, Kogi East Elders’ Council, (KEEC) was the visit to the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa before the November 11, 2023 election in Kogi State to request among others the stepping up of security in the north and particularly Kogi State which was sliding into a situation of anarchy.

” The heightened political insecurity in Kogi State, north central Nigeria weeks before the election, is a fact well known to every Nigerian and should be of concern particularly to the Arewa Consultative Forum. During the said visit, Chief Aduku also expressed concern about the security situation in Zamfara State and other and parts of Northern Nigeria.

” His visit therefore cannot be termed as partisan by any fair minded person. As Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum, the entire 19 northern states are his constituency and it is his duty to consult anybody anywhere in Nigeria to buttress the interest of the constituent
parts of Arewa. Or, is Kogi State not covered by the ACF operations?
Credit must infact, be given to the Aduku-led ACF for the relative security success enjoyed in Kogi State during the November 11, 2023 election in Kogi State”

AYV maintained that ” Were it not for that visit and the subsequent intervention of the military, only God knows how many persons would have been killed and maimed in Kogi State by thugs sponsored and unleashed opponents and citizens by Yahaya Bello and his goons.

” His grouse therefore, is that the Chief Gabriel Aduku-led ACF’s appealed for the deployment of enough security personnel which foiled his plans of causing anarchy in Kogi State during the last off circle election in the state.

” In the events after the election, we have also seen how INEC in the state and their official as well as the Election Tribunal Secretary has been subjected to several attacks and threats.

The group also lamented how the last governorship was a sham however wish to maintain status quo, “:Since the matter is already before the election tribunal, we shall not delve much into it to avoid contempt of the court but, we urge the Arewa Consultative Forum made up of eminent elders who are also witnessing the situation in Kogi State and others states of the north, not to play the ostrich at this critical comment before things completely go out of hand.

” In view of the foregoing, we call on all members of Arewa Consultative Forum to rise above the divisive manipulations of one man to tear down this house that has taken several distinguished personalities of all ethnicities in Northern Nigeria and different faiths in the region to build over the years.”

The Arewa. youth group further warned that” Arewa Consultative Forum will be
sounding its own death knell if it plays into the hands of unscrupulous politicians.

“Removing or attempting to remove Chief Gabriel Aduku because one governor’s untamed ego had been ruffled will create a crack in the very fabric of Arewa Consultative Forum, a crack that it may never recover from.

” We urge you as elders who we young people are looking up for leadership wisdom to be temperate, logical and dispassionate in handling this matter. Politicians come and go.

” Do not embarrass the Forum and indeed the entire north by playing into the hands of an inexperienced youth, sadly one of us who has squandered a golden opportunity to make his mark in life. That would be a blight on the integrity of an august body like the Arewa Consultative Forum. Please thread carefully” the group reiterated.