A northern-based group, the Northern Progressive Youth Vanguard (NPYV), has dismissed calls by the Arewa Youth Assembly seeking the impeachment of Dapo Abiodun and his Enugu State counterpart, Peter Mbah, over developments within the Progressive Governors Forum.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja and signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Usman Jubrin, the group described the impeachment call as strange, unnecessary and politically motivated, alleging that political enemies of the two governors were hiding under the guise of northern youths to pursue personal political interests.
The group urged Nigerians to disregard what it described as “the shenanigans of a faceless and subversive group conjured by desperate and drowning politicians” to push an agenda against Governor Abiodun and Governor Mbah.
According to the NPYV, youths across the 19 northern states belong to different political and ideological leanings and were never consulted on matters relating to the alleged crisis within the Progressive Governors Forum.
The statement read in part: “If and when Arewa youths meet, it will be to discuss insurgency, widespread poverty, insecurity and other socio-economic challenges plaguing the region, not alleged disagreements within the Progressive Governors Forum.
“Where and when did it become our duty as northern youths to champion impeachment moves against governors from another region over internal political developments within their party?
“The PGF, to the best of our knowledge, is an organisation within the ruling All Progressives Congress, and it has its own internal mechanisms for handling its affairs. It has never claimed to speak for the North, so why should Arewa youths suddenly make its affairs a basis for impeachment agitation?”
The group maintained that northern youths should not be dragged into partisan political battles orchestrated by disgruntled politicians, insisting that the impeachment call does not represent the views or aspirations of the region’s youth population.
“Nigerians should count Arewa youths out of any impeachment call,” the statement added.
“They should disregard statements by fake and amorphous groups being used by politicians to feather their political nests.
“It is not the duty of Arewa youths to choose leaders for the PGF or meddle in its affairs. Northern youths are not jobless people.”