Barring any last-minute development, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) will today lift the suspension of Mr Mamman Mike Osuman (SAN) as Chairman of its National Executive Committee (NEC).

Reliable sources confirmed to Daily Trust on Tuesday that plans were underway to announce the lifting of the suspension.

It was gathered that the decision followed a successful reconciliation meeting on Saturday convened by the ACF Unity, Peace and Reconciliation Committee under the chairmanship of Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Daily Trust earlier reported that the Saturday meeting was a follow-up to last week's Tuesday meeting aimed at finding a resolution to the leadership crisis.

It would be recalled that Mr Osuman was suspended over statements he allegedly made that were criticised by some of the BoT and NEC members as deviating from the organisation's non-partisanship.

In a statement jointly signed by ACF Secretary General Malam Murtala Aliyu and BoT Chairman Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Mr Osuman was accused of making unauthorised remarks suggesting that the North would back a northern presidential candidate in the 2027 elections.

But inside sources told Weekend Trust (a sister publication of Daily Trust) that the leadership of the crisis marked the peak of long-standing issues within the apex socio-cultural group representing northern Nigeria.

These issues, sources revealed, stemmed largely from personality clashes and ego battles between the suspended NEC chairman and the chairman of the forum's Board of Trustees (BoT). The politics of 2027 as well as structural and constitutional issues in the forum were also mentioned.