Northern Leaders and Stakeholders’ Assembly meet with Saraki to discuss killings and 2019 elections

SENATE president Bukola Saraki has been visited by the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders’ Assembly (NLSA) to discuss several contemporary issues including the 2019 elections and the incessant killings by Fulani cattle herdsmen across the country.

Apparently, the meeting, which was held in the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, took place behind closed doors but details were revealed afterwards. A list of attendees included a former liaison officer to President Shehu Shagari during the Second Republic, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, the NLSA chairman; former deputy senate president Ibrahim Mantu, its deputy chairman and Aliyu Ardo, the body's secretary.

Others on the team were a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and ex-minister of communications and defence Dr Haliru Bello;  former governors Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Idris Wada of Kogi State; Senator Joseph Waku and the former ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed and Abba Gana. At the meeting, Alhaji Yakasai took a swipe at the Buhari-led administration, saying that Nigerians were losing confidence in northerners to effectively manage the country.

He said: “Given that today, all across Nigeria, there is a palpable disquiet, distrust and loss of confidence by the mass populace in the nation’s political class, a situation that is both creating a serious threat to the survival of democracy in the country and the nationwide loss of confidence in northerners to effectively direct the affairs of this country, we see it as a matter of urgency that northerners of good standing come together to arrest the drift. We need to recapture national power, redeem the battered image of the northern political class and rebuild confidence in our ability to effectively pilot our democracy.

"One of the reasons for the formation of the NLSA is to help attain this noble feat for the north.  To attain this goal, the assembly needs to devise insightful strategies to generate practical options and produce alternative choices for our people.”

In his remarks, Senator Saraki told the northern leaders to join hands with the federal government in finding a lasting solution to the incessant killings taking place in the country. He noted that peace and unity were essential to achieving the overall development of the country and commended the group for rising up to contribute their quota to realising a peaceful and prosperous country.

Senator Saraki said: “By this time, as elders, you ought to be resting but the patriotism in you brought you out. You said you are political but non-partisan, we are all political and we need to get Nigeria in the right direction.

“Being leaders, this is the time to find lasting solutions, this is not the time for blame. This is the time for us to bring peace and regional dialogue as no society worth its salt will keep quiet in the face of these killings."

He added that something somewhere is wrong and they all need to meet to bring about peaceful coexistence and unity in the country. According to Senator Saraki, part of the solution is to know that something is wrong.