Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, weekend, faulted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for giving prominence to his re-election campaign rather than sort out the challenges plaguing the nation.
The Northern group expressed anger that Tinubu was more obsessed with unprecedented early campaigns, defections to its fold and other maneuvers for re-election in 2027, than addressing the security challenges and other existential problems confronting the nation.
This was contained in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Muhammad-Baba.
NATIONAL POST reports that ever since the Tinubu government came to power, the suffering in the country has worsened.
This was occasioned by the sudden removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira.
Nigerians also say they were yet to see the promised gains of the subsidy removal, two years after.
Insecurity is also ravaging the country, with Benue now bearing the brunt of rampaging herdsmen.
ACF lamented that public policy responses to the insecurity situation, especially in the northern part of the country, had remained ineffective, even as profligacy and reckless expenditures by public officials were in contrast to sacrifices by citizens.
It stated: “A most perverse illustration of reckless profligacy of public expenditure has been the revelation about insertions in the 2025 federal budget, for the provision of streetlights at a staggering and unimaginable costs of over N260 million each.
“That there has to date been no official denial of such crassly reckless and surreal insertions attests to the insensitivity of public officials and political representatives to the plight of ordinary Nigerians, whose living conditions continue to deteriorate all round.
“Going by precedent, such budgetary insertions are replicated in various ways at state level. As ACF observed a year ago, the existential challenges above are symptomatic of fundamental malaise in the political economy calling for urgent public policy attention.
“Delusional hubris and head-in-the-sand claims continue to characterise pronouncement by officials charged with responsibilities for security in contrast to cries of state governors on ground in locations.
‘’Such obsessions and claims only ignore or give blind eyes to possible mass disillusionment, despair, discontent, hopelessness and angst of the populace.
“That Nigerians continue to endure and could even celebrate occasions such as the Eid is a telling testament to their admirable resilience, which ought not to be taken for granted.’’