The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has opposed attempts to suppress the right of citizens to criticise the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.<\/p>\n
The AYCF stated this while responding to a statement from the Coalition of North-East Elders Forum (CNEF), which rejected Ndume\u2019s recent criticism of Tinubu\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
Ndume recently alleged that the current administration is composed of \u201ckakistocrats\u201d and \u201ckleptocrats,\u201d suggesting that the government is being led by the least competent and most corrupt individuals primarily focused on embezzling resources, a claim that was frowned upon by CNEF.<\/p>\n
Reacting, president general of AYCF, Yerima Shettima, accused the CNEF of attempting to suppress dissent and freedom of expression, echoing the foundational democratic values enshrined in both national and international covenants.<\/p>\n
The AYCF said while these remarks represent Ndume\u2019s personal opinions, his right to express them is protected and should be respected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attack from CNEF against Senator Ndume is vindictive, unwarranted, and an unacceptable affront to democratic principles of freedom and fair play,\u201d stated Shettima, who added that \u201cIt is a brutal encroachment on his right to freedom of expression, safeguarded by various international treaties and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AYCF also voiced concerns over growing speculations that Senator Ndume might be relieved of his position as Chief Whip of the Senate. They warned that any further attempts to breach his fundamental right to hold differing views will be vigorously resisted and vehemently challenged.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAny government that cannot be criticized is a liability,\u201d stated Shettima, urging the North-East elders to desist from their indiscriminate attacks on Senator Ndume, whom they referred to as an eminent hero of the Northern youth.<\/p>\n While the AYCF clarified that it does not currently favor protests, it stressed that Ndume\u2019s observations regarding the current harsh realities faced by Nigerians are apt and timely.<\/p>\n They urged the government to heed these observations for the benefit of all citizens and warned the North-East elders against manipulating and politicising security issues for their own gain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe observations raised by Senator Ndume should be heeded by the government, as they reflect the collective concerns of many Nigerians facing hardships,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n The AYCF said it remained committed to upholding democratic values and the right to freedom of expression, and call on all stakeholders to adopt a more tolerant and constructive approach to differing viewpoints.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has opposed attempts to suppress the right of citizens to criticise the President Bola Tinubu-led administration. The AYCF stated this while responding to a statement from the Coalition of North-East Elders Forum (CNEF), which rejected Ndume\u2019s recent criticism of Tinubu\u2019s administration. Ndume recently alleged that the current administration is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":38951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[1195],"class_list":["post-38950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","tag-aycf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38950"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38973,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38950\/revisions\/38973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}