Our Membership is not by force — Arewa tells North-Central group
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has reacted to the emergence of the North-Central Peoples Forum, (NPCF) saying that the Forum’s membership is not by force.
The ACF’s National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, said this in an interview on Thursday, September 11.
On Wednesday, Daily Times reported that leaders from the North-Central announced their exit from the ACF.
They said the worsening insecurity in Northern Nigeria is the actual reason they left the ACF.
The NCPF, which has as its interim Chairman, a former Minister of Health, Gabriel Aduku, said it would fight insecurity in the North-Central.
READ ALSO: The North will be lost if insecurity continues-Arewa Forum
But the ACF in reaction to their exit, said the Arewa is a big family that accommodated diverse interests in the region.
Yawe said that the ACF would not expel the NCPF member, neither was the northern body angry over the development.
“We are not worried at the ACF at all. The north is a very big region of this country. Niger State alone is three times bigger than the entire South-East geopolitical zone.
”So, we are not worried when such a thing happens because when you are so big and you accommodate people of such diverse backgrounds, a lot of things are bound to develop.
‘We cannot force everybody to belong to the ACF, but we accept every northerner as member of ACF.
“We have a vision of what we want the North to be. We want the North to catch up and maybe overtake the South in terms of development in education, industry, agriculture and everything.
”So, any group that says it has broken away from the ACF, if really they have broken away, if they have the same vision with us, they are welcome,” ACF said in a statement.
