Northern group denies asking Buhari not to seek re-election
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the coalition was however quite surprised by some reports by a section of the media tending to suggest that we have asked certain aspirants to the 2019 presidency to shelve their ambition1 contrary to reports northern groups have denied asking president muhammadu buhari against seeking a re-election in 20191 the group described the report as misrepresentation1 mr abdul-azeez suleiman spokesman of cng said in a statement issued in lagos on wednesday that the cng did not discuss individual aspiration at its two-day summit in kaduna as reported in the media1 according to him the communiqu only highlighted its support for structural reforms with condition that only youths between ages 18 and 60 should represent the north1 the attention of the coalition of northern groups cng has been drawn to certain misrepresentations of parts of its communiqu of may 21 2018 by a section of the media1 while we do not want to believe that the misrepresentations though very fundamental were maliciously made we nevertheless owe the public a duty to straighten the records1 at the end of our two-day summit at arewa house kaduna a five-page communiqu was read by our spokesperson abdul-azeez suleiman in which we categorically stated that the north fully supports the restructuring of the country and shall be prepared to represent itself in any debate thereon1 our coalition said the north supported structural reforms with certain conditions he said1 according to him one of the terms is that those who will carry the banner to any future discussion with regards to nigerian federal arrangement should be within the 18 to 60 years bracket1 we said this out of a patriotic conviction that the older men who have been speaking and running the country since independence should cease to take the front seats at such national discourses1 the coalition of northern groups cng on wednesday also denied asking former vice president atiku abubakar not to contest presidential election1 we wish to respond here that at no time did the individual aspiration of any politician ever came up at our two-day summit nor was it mentioned anywhere in the communiqu we read1 our summit and subsequent communiqu essentially concentrated on the issue of restructuring. nowhere and at no time did we discuss such matters as the 2019 presidency suleiman said1 he said that the summit was sequel to calls from several quarters in the last six months asking for our position on the issue of restructuring1 suleiman said the group answered those calls by mandating a committee to sample the pulse of northern nigeria in that respect1 he said that the committee after contacting stakeholders across all shades of interest in the region reported that the north favoured restructuring of the country1 consequently we called for the summit at which participants unanimously confirmed norths support for total and holistic structural reform1 a communiqu was issued to that effect devoid of the slightest hint at partisanship or 2019 elections nor did we discuss the individual aspiration of any politician he added1 he advised media practitioners in the country to stick to their professional ethics of accurate reporting of events and avoid unnecessary sensational overkill1 nan reports that a section of the media on monday reported that cng asked buhari and abubakar not to contest for president in 20191 cngs position was reported to be contained in a communiqu issued after at the end of its two-day summit in kaduna. nan1