The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has raised an alarm over alleged plans to truncate the process of the February 2023 general elections.Â
They warned anyone planning to interfere with credible elections and the peaceful transition of power to a new administration, to stay away.
The NEF stated that it has reviewed the difficult conditions that Northerners and other Nigerians are currently living in, as well as concerns about the security of the elections, which will be held in February and March of this year.
The Elders said in a statement signed by the NEF’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, that there are murmurs that the elections may not take place, and that some kind of unconstitutional contraption may be imposed on Nigerians after May of this year.
NEF said those who peddle the rumours point to the near-desperate circumstances under which Nigerians live.
“They suggest that difficulties simultaneously imposed by insecurity, crushing inflation, fuel scarcity, exchange of old for new currency notes and others which affect particularly poor Nigerians, are deliberately contrived to inflame passions and trigger unrest which may poison the election environment or threaten its conduct.
“The Forum has no basis to support these conjectures. Nonetheless, it warns against any attempts to interfere with the conduct of credible elections and a peaceful transition to a new administration.
“The severe economic and social difficulties under which Nigerians live are indeed threats to peace and security. Solution must be found to improve the security of the citizen and the state. Fuel shortage can and must be eliminated immediately.
“The currency swap programme has not worked as planned, and it is strangulating economies, communities and the patience of the citizen. It should be revisited, particularly around its timelines and operations of the CBN and banks,” he said.