Quote:Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has come down hard on Mallam Garba Shehu, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari.

When he featured on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme on Friday, Baba-Ahmed said he sympathises with Shehu because “It is very difficult to sell a bad product”.

Shehu, who was also a guest on the programme, had said some persons would fail in their bid to bring down the government of Buhari.

While reacting to the secession moves of agitators such as Sunday Igboho and Asari Dokubo, Shehu said some “charlatans” were being sponsored to bully the president, thinking he will be forced into submission.

Igboho had recently declared that the SouthWest is no longer a part of Nigeria and Dokubo also announced establishment of Biafra Customary Government in which he incorporated some parts of the South East and South South as part of its territory.

Their action had generated a lot of reactions.

During the television programme, Shehu had attributed the actions of the “charlatans” to opponents of the government.

But Baba-Ahmed said what he really wants from the president is for him to do his job and not to keep blaming others for things that are wrong in his government.

“First of all, I must say that I have a lot of sympathy for Malam Garba Shehu because it is very difficult to sell a bad product. He is doing his job; his job is to make the administration look good. But Nigerians know how things are.

“There is no need to label critics as people who are overambitious, who want to bring down the country.”

DAILY TRUST