In a recent interview with The Sun, Anthony Sani, the former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), strongly countered the claims put forth by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) regarding their purported influential role in securing President Bola Tinubu's win in the 2023 presidential election.
( Photo credit : The Punch Newspaper Verified Facebook Page )
Sani rebuffed NEF's assertions, emphasizing that although the North played a significant part in Tinubu's triumph, it was not the Northern Elders Forum but rather the APC governors in the North who were pivotal in securing the victory. He highlighted Tinubu's necessity to gain support in the North for his overall success, given his lack of substantial backing in the Southern region where voters favored Mr. Peter Obi.
( Photo credit : The Sun Newspaper Official Facebook Page )
During an interview with The Sun, he remarked, “It is true that it was the North that made it possible for the emergence of President Bola Tinubu, considering he did not prevail in the Southern part of the country which voted for Mr Peter Obi in the last elections, instead, just as it was the South West which made it possible for the emergence of President Buhari by helping him to meet the constitutional requirement for spread, since the North has only 19 and not 24 states.“But that does not mean it was the Northern Elders Forum which made the victory of Bola Tinubu in the North possible. It was the handwork of APC governors in the North who made the victory possible for Bola Tinubu in both the primaries and the general elections.”