Arewa Consultative Forum endorses Buhari saying he has done well in tackling insurgency

NORTHERN Nigeria's pan cultural association the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has opted to endorse President Muhammadu Buhari in next Saturday's presidential elections saying it is impressed with his record on tackling insecurity and insurgency.

On Saturday February 16, Nigerians go to the polls and in the presidential elections, the two front runners are the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. President Buhari is standing for re-election as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while Alhaji Abubakar is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer.

With just a few days to go before polling, both candidates are desperately seeking the endorsement of the numerous socio-cultural groups across the country in the hope that this will get their followers to back them. With both President Buhari and Alhaji Abubakar being northern Muslims of Fulani extraction, this time around, the endorsements are not as divisive as they have been in the past.

However, after holding a meeting in Kaduna yesterday, the ACF said that being aware that two prominent northerners are in the race for the presidency, it had to look at their track records and achievements before taking a stand. Acting ACF chairman Musa Kwande, said the strides taken by the Buhari administration to improve and re-position the nation economically as well as its achievements in combating insurgency led to the forum’s decision to stand by him.

Mr Kwande added: “Consequent upon the contributions of the incumbent government to the economic and infrastructural development and the government’s achievement in combating insurgency and other insecurity problems bedevilling the country, ACF believes President Muhammadu Buhari deserves a second term.”

He urged politicians and their supporters to avoid all forms of violence, before, during and after the elections. On February 16, presidential and National Assembly elections will hold, while on March 2, polls for governors and state houses of assembly will take place.