Northern Elders Condemn FG Relocation Of Heavy Weapons To South

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and
the Northern
Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) rose
from a meeting in
Kaduna Wednesday alleging that
ahead of next year's elections, the federal government has
masterminded the
mass redeployment of heavy weapons
from the Northern
part of the country to the south for the
purpose of rigging the election.
Other issues which the regional elders
outlined, which
they said the federal government is
planning to use to
twist the polls, include the projection of ethnic politics and manipulation of
religion for political gains.
The meeting, chaired by the Sultan of
Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad
Abubakar III, also dismissed the
planned national conference as unnecessary, pointing
out that if it must hold then President
Goodluck Jonathan must relinquish
his position in order for the entire
process to be independent and truly
reflect the aspirations of Nigerians. These, according to Solomon Dalung,
one of the elders of
the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF),
were some of the
matters discussed at the Kaduna
gathering of the northern elders, which also attracted traditional rulers,
some governors and a representative
of the National Security Adviser (NSA),
Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd). The
governors and the NSA, it was learnt,
gate crashed into the meeting.