ACF Blast Buhari for Failing to Hold Appointees Accountable

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being unwilling to hold his Appointees Accountable for their failures.

The comment follows Buhari’s failure to sack any of its key officials in the aftermath of the Kuje Prison attack by ISWAP terrorists. This was contained in a statement on Monday by the group’s Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu.

According to them, the recent terrorist attack on a jail in the country’s capital, as well as other deadly terrorist and bandit strikes across the nation, have caused an unprecedented surge of anxiety and panic among the long-suffering residents, particularly of the North.

The Forum further stated that while it counts itself amongst the ardent supporters of President Buhari, it, however, emphasises that Nigeria’s rapid descent into strife, violence and lawlessness is getting to a point at which it can no longer afford to tell him only that which he wants to hear but also to say to the president what he needs to hear.

“We noted that the response of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kuje Prison tragedy, in particular, was to offer the familiar cocktail of platitudes, sermons, condemnations and yet more sermons. As usual, the president asked the security services to ‘investigate’ the outbreak and find out what led it. Presumably, in the view of the President, that was all he was expected or required to do in the circumstances.

“The required boost in manpower and equipment, long recognised as the missing link in the current campaign, have remained mainly unimplemented to the required level needed to secure the nation.

“In other countries, the Kuje jail attack and similar ones that have happened in parts of Nigeria would have led to massive reshuffle, resignations and possibly prosecutions of officials that are negligent, incompetent or plainly untrustworthy.

“We simply are unable to find any courteous or less painful words to describe the feeling of utter frustration among the broad masses of Nigeria, especially in the North, arising from the ineffectual management of the security crises by the President.

“The President, in his Sallah message, promised to deal with the situation before the end of his tenure. However, as long as the crises remain unabating, Nigerians will justifiably conclude that the government is ineffective and needs to do more if they can quell the crises.

“Probably because President Buhari is unable or unwilling to hold his appointees responsible for any deterioration of the security situation and some other socioeconomic sectors under their watch, the vast amount of money and other resources being pumped into the security agencies have largely been ineffective.

“No person other than the President has both the mandate and responsibility to ensure that the government of Nigeria maintains peace, security, order and good governance. We demand that President Buhari braces up without further delay and rise to today’s occasion,” the ACF’s statement partly read.

The Forum believes that to stop the widespread insecurity that is dragging the nation to its knees, the regime needs to reprioritise its programs and free up more resources.

According to the ACF, the organisation must convey to the president that Nigerians’ patience is finite.