By Jimitota Onoyume

National Coordinator of Arewa Initiative for Peaceful Coexistence, Alhaji Musa Saidu has said that the apex northern body Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, is a pressure group to canvass development issues for the northern region.

Saidu, who is a founding member of the ACF, said he was disturbed and had to make the clarification when he read some media statements under the banner of the ACF allegedly endorsing politicians in the south.

He alleged that those behind such actions were not known to the group, advising politicians in the south to be careful with how they dole out funds to such persons.

He said ACF was founded as a pressure group like you have Afenifere in the west, Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF in the Niger Delta, and similar bodies across the country, stressing that northerners are not against any politician in the south.

“We are not against the political aspirations of politicians in the south. All I am saying as a northern leader in the south is that they should know that the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, is a northern pressure group and not a political group. I read a media report that some youths using the name of Arewa Consultative Forum endorsed the governor of Rivers state, Fubara, last year for a second term. This can’t be true. Some people just do this with the name of the organisation to get free money from the innocent politicians in the south. ACF is not against any politician, but it is a pressure group that does not dabble into decisions of which politician to support in any state “, he said.

“As ACF, the focus should be on how to pressure governments to bring lasting peace to the northern areas ravaged by acts of banditry. Plateau, Niger, and Zamfara are burning over insecurity. We read of the killings of some senior military officers by suspected terrorists. The concern of the ACF is how to pressure the government to step up security in the north. ACF is like the Pan Niger Delta Forum – PANDEF that campaigns for development of the Niger Delta “, he added.