As Nigeria prepares to celebrate its 64th independence anniversary on October 1, several northern elders have urged President Bola Tinubu to disregard the alleged gossip and mischief directed at his ministers.
They noted that many ministers in Tinubu’s federal government have achieved significant success in their roles within just a few months of their appointments, performing better than their predecessors in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dr. Adamu Lawal Giwa, Secretary of the Northern Elders Political Development Group in the North-West, expressed this sentiment in a statement issued in Kaduna on Monday.
He emphasized that rather than dismissing these ministers, the President should recognize and reward their contributions.
The elders specifically highlighted the commendable performance of ministers in key areas such as Budget, Housing, and Defence, which have positively impacted the country’s development under Tinubu’s administration.
“We have seen significant development in the housing sector policies under the supervision of Hon Umar Farouk Dangiwa.
“Again, Minister of Budget Abubakar Atiku has justified his commitment toward ensuring discipline in budgetary control and fiscal responsibility for the government’s financial budgetary implementation according to due process.
“In the area of security, the ongoing fight against insecurity under the supervision of Minister of State Defense Mohammed Bello Matawalle is yielding expected results compared to what we have witnessed in the recent past.
The northern elders applauded the effort of President Bola Tinubu through his minister of defense Matawalle and Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on working to achieve success in the fight against insecurity.
“We believed that the action is taken so far by the defence minister and his team under operation ‘Fansar Yamma’ in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, and Kaduna States respectively will ensure sustainable peace in our region.
“The achievement so far recorded in the elimination of dangerous bandits’ kingpins, especially in Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states axis of the North-West, and could be attributed to the political will, good coordination and support of the federal government.
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“To us, substituting or dropping these loyalists and result-oriented political figures would certainly create a vacuum on the leadership development in the Country”, he said.
They stressed that the issue of propaganda, mischief, and blackmail sponsored against some particular ministers by certain groups of people will never be achieved, and the success of the Tinubu government will prosper.
The group expressed concern over continuous sabotage and misinformation circulated by some opposition groups in the North-West to undermine the success of the ongoing military operations.
The group, however, urged President Tinubu to continue with his war against insecurity and support the military and other security agencies to achieve all the necessary efforts in eliminating the criminal element in the region.