Sheathe your swords, ACF tells Presidency, N/Assembly

The Arewa Consultative Forum has appealed to the Presidency and the National Assembly leadership to sheath their swords and put the interests of Nigeria above all other considerations.

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the ACF which held its quarterly meeting of the year on Tuesday 15th August, 2018, at its headquarters in Kaduna, expressed concern over the lingering crisis between the executive and the legislature.

A communiqué signed by the national publicity secretary of the forum, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said the situation had not only affected governance, but also the polity and growth of democracy in Nigeria.

“Both the executive and the NASS members are in place in order to deliver on the promise of democracy and not to engage in unnecessary flexing of muscles that have nothing to do with real issues of real concern to real ordinary Nigerians,” the forum stated.

The meeting also noted the insecurity, especially the killings by bandits in Zamfara, Kaduna and other parts of the north .

The ACF, however, commended the Federal Government’s quick intervention by way of deploying the military, air surveillance and materials to tackle the situation in Zamfara and Kaduna states.

The meeting condemned the last week’s siege to the National Assembly by the men of the Department of State Security, saying the actions of the DSS ran contrary to democratic tenets.

“NEC therefore applauded the actions taken by the FG and urged the Federal Government to thoroughly investigate the immediate and remote causes of the NASS invasion by the DSS personnel in order to unveil the truth and to sanction all those found culpable, no matter their status both within and without the service. “And because punitive measure was never taken against those involved in similar episodes in the past, it has encouraged the DSS to do what it recently did to the NASS,” the forum stated.