Support Tinubu or exit his govt, Matawalle tells Northern appointees

All Northern appointees from the Northern part of the country serving in the administration of President Bola Tinubu must take a stand and work towards the realization of its ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle has said:.

In a statement by the Minister on Monday and obtained by Persecondnews, he said the attack by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on President Tinubu is unjust.

The statement reads: “Consequent to my position on the recent attack on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR by a spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), it has come to my attention that Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who once served as the Spokesperson of the group and is currently a Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Presidency, took to his page on it to express a different position.

“According to Dr. Baba-Ahmed, my stand against the unjust and spurious attack against the new administration of President Tinubu that is working very hard to reposition our country and economy for better is ‘ill-advised’.

“He suggested I could have done a better job in my defence of the administration, where I have the rare honour to serve as a minister.

“Dr. Baba-Ahmed’s relationship and affinity with the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) are well known.

“The fact now is that he is an appointee of the administration as Special Adviser, and it is incumbent on him to work for the success of the government he is part of, protect, and defend the government against unjust and vicious attacks from those who hide under ethnic and other primordial interests to heat up the polity for myopic reasons.

“It is pertinent to state that every appointee of President Tinubu, including Dr. Baba-Ahmed, owes the government a copious duty to promote, elucidate, and advance the good works and commendable efforts of the government across all sectors.

“As appointees of the government from the North, we must all take a stand, be unequivocal, and be counted in the roll of honours for our support and work for the success of the administration we are serving.

“This is not the time to keep quiet in the face of intimidation and misrepresentation of the efforts and achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

“We must stand up to be counted as being on the part of the government or take our exit.”