Sheni maintained that any publication coming from the NEF has a procedure for scrutiny before being released to the public domain.

Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has removed itself from a publication made by its Director of Advocacy and Publicity, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In his recent publication entitled “Advice to the Tinubu Administration,” Baba-Ahmed admonished President Tinubu to periodically communicate with Nigerians on his policies and how he intends to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians as a result of the fuel subsidy removal.

Baba-Ahmed had, prior to the latest publication, said that fighting corruption is very important because it is the root of insecurity, societal corruption, and the erosion of values as Nigerians.

He said if President Tinubu can curb corruption from the processes and operations of the government and from the lives of Nigerians, he can solve the problem of insecurity in a year or two.

The NEF spokesman said this while expressing hope that Tinubu will be able to bring in some bright people who will give him some good ideas on how his government will tackle corruption.

Reacting, however, to his recent admonition to the Nigerian leader, NEF Director General, Doknan Sheni, said the contents of the report by Baba-Ahmed did not represent the views of the Forum.

Sheni maintained that any publication coming from the NEF has a procedure for scrutiny before being released to the public domain.

“The attention of the directorate of Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has been drawn to a publication credited to Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Director of Publicity, titled, “Advice to the Tinubu Administration”, dated 31 July 2023.

“We wish to state categorically that the write-up and the contents were not the views of the Directors of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and therefore do not represent the views of NEF on the Administration.

“This was a personal opinion of Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed. NEF has a procedure for approving such press releases.

“The acceptable position is that any such statements must first be subjected to scrutiny by the Directorate, after which it would be forwarded to the Convener for ratification. This procedure was not followed in this case.

“Therefore, NEF hereby distances itself from this publication and all its ramifications,” Sheni said in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday.

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