Kogi elders allege Bello planning for Aduku’s removal as ACF chairman
Kogi elders allege Bello planning for Aduku’s removal as ACF chairman
By: Femi Mustapha
Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) has alleged that the state governor, Yahaya Bello, is planning for the removal of Gabriel Aduku as the chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
The Council, in a statement by its secretary, Alphonsus Alhassan, and made available to ASHENEWS on Monday, cautioned the ACF against playing into the Governor’s plot.
“The attention of the Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) has been drawn to the clandestine moves orchestrated by Yahaya Bello, the outgoing Governor of Kogi State, to mortally injure the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) through the unwarranted attempt to cause the premature and ill-advised removal of its Chairman, Chief (Arc) Gabriel Yakubu Aduku, who assumed the office of the august organization only recently.
“The Governor’s grouse with Chief Gabriel Aduku (who also doubles as the Acting Chairman, Kogi East Elders’ Council, (KEEC) was his visit to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, shortly before the November 11, 2023 off-season election in Kogi state to request, among other things, the beefing up of security in the North and particularly, Kogi State, which was sliding into state-tolerated anarchy.
“During the visit, Chief Aduku also expressed grave concern about the security situation in Zamfara State and other parts of Northern Nigeria. His visit, therefore, could not be termed as partisan by any fair-minded watcher of recent events in Nigeria.
“As Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, the entire 19 northern states fall under the purview of the ACF helmsman’s scrutiny and part of his patriotic duty to consult individuals or groups anywhere in Nigeria to reposition the interest of the constituent parts of Arewa. Or, are we to assume that Kogi State is not covered by the sphere of ACF’s operations?
“If anything, credit must be given to the Aduku-led ACF for the relative security success enjoyed in Kogi State during the November 11, 2023 election. Were it not for that statement and timely visit and the subsequent intervention of the military, only God knows how many persons would have been killed and maimed in Kogi state by thugs,” the statement reads.
According to the elder’s council, Governor Bello’s grief “is the Chief Gabriel Aduku-led ACF’s appeal for the deployment of adequate security personnel to Kogi state.
“Given the foregoing, we call on all members of the Arewa Consultative Forum to rise above the divisive manipulations of one man to tear down this house that has taken several distinguished personalities of all ethnicities in Northern Nigeria and different faiths in the region to build, over the years.
“The Arewa Consultative Forum will be sounding its death knell if it plays into the manipulative hands of unscrupulous politicians.
“Removing or attempting to remove Chief Gabriel Aduku because one governor’s untamed ego has been ruffled, will create a crack in the very fabric of Arewa Consultative Forum, a crack that it may never recover from.
“As elders, we urge you as fellow elders, to be temperate, logical, and dispassionate in handling this contentious matter. Politicians come and go, but this house must not be made to fall due to indiscretion orchestrated by an irrational megalomaniac.
“Do not embarrass the Forum by playing into the hands of an inexperienced youth who has squandered a golden opportunity to make his mark in life. Doing that would be a blight on the integrity of an august body like the Arewa Consultative Forum,” the elders council further stated.
