 The Northern Elders Forum has said that the northern part of the country is not reserving the presidency for other regions in the February 25th presidential election. According to them, every citizen, regardless of region, should be given the opportunity to contest any elective position or also warning that the North would counter any attempts to subvert the wishes of the people. In a statement, they also said the North has paid its dues and there is no other section of the country that has contributed as much as the Northern part of the country, adding that the North still has an outstanding four years to rule in order to equate the southern part of Nigeria. Joining us to discuss this is Dr Hakim Baba Ahmed. He is the spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum. Happy New Year and thanks for joining us, Doctor. Thank you very much. Good to see you. Great. Let me start by asking where the North is pitching its tent for the 25th February elections. Many regions have been speaking up on who they want, certain persons who are notable in certain regions have also said, well, this is who we're pitching our 10th with. Has the North come to an understanding yet as to who they will be picking? Yeah, we've always had an understanding. We don't follow crowds. The North has its pitching its tent with the interests of the people of the North. Timing is not in itself a priority. We can decide where we go at any time and we don't want to succumb to pressure from people saying, no, no, no, there are only few days that you have to say something. We will say something when we build it is the right time and the appropriate time. What is your assessment so far of all the frontline? Let's say the first four frontline runners for the presidential elections. We've seen that they're more than five, they're more than six, but then there are few people that we would term as frontline runners. What's your assessment of those people so far? I mean, we have a few of them who are from the northern extraction of this country. Well, we think they've done well. They've just certainly shown a strong desire for our trust. I'm talking about Nigerian electorate, not just the northern electorate. They've published excellent money testers. They are here to understand Nigeria's problems and they've done the rounds. We've seen them on one-on-one when we held a meeting for some of them in Kaduna. We've been following their campaign. So on the whole, about three or four of them have shown a capacity and a genuineness for us to trust them. As I said before, there is no pressure to say who it is that we would advise and others to support and I would like to remind you that not specifically pointing at a candidate is one of the options that we have. We don't have to say to the people of the north. We suggest you go and vote for A or B. But where we feel we have, we should and it is the better choice. We will do that. But on the whole, I think the candidates have shown tremendous desire to be trusted. Whether they are the best or not, these are the candidates who should be asking us to trust them. It's now academic issue. We have 18 candidates, whether we like it or not. Out of these 18, there are front runners and they are front runners because they appear to have enjoyed the biggest exposure, the biggest support. Obviously, they had no money than others but they made themselves more visible. But we are not going to allow these factors to cloud us in terms of taking a decision or judgment over the contestants. As much as you say that you will not necessarily be telling people who to vote for, but there will be a point where you decide that you will throw your weight behind this person or that person. I hear that. But you can also bear witness with me that there seems to have been a change of the mindsets of people, whether it be in the north, south, east or west. There seems to be that level of independence. Now, people are more independent minded when it comes to this election. So there is no more listening to the voice of wisdom or the wise ones or elders. People seem to want to be going in their own different direction. Do you think the NEF still has that power, that attention that they can get the ears of the average person in the north? Well, we have never been an election-only group. Our job has never been just to simply say to northerners, this is what you vote for. We are not a political party, we are not people who say to people to northerners, this is where to go. I would like to remind you that we have done a lot of other things. Again, they are related to politics. We fought very hard to make sure that northerners have an equal chance within their parties to be filled in. As we speak, there are five parties that are filled in northerners, this time last year.