Following the calls by some stakeholders of Idoma extraction in Benue State to sack the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, the Arewa New Agenda (ANA) has asked President Bola Tinubu not to heed such calls as it does not represent the interest of the Arewa.
Recall that an elder statesman, Chief Audu Ogbeh and other stakeholders in Benue State had called for the sack of the SGF over what they described as the marginalisation of the Idoma tribe by the present administration.
The Idoma stakeholders lamented that after the appointment of Senator Akume who is a Tiv man as SGF, the President went ahead and sent another Tiv man to the National Assembly to be screened as Minister, thereby marginalising the Idoma tribe.
But in a reaction to this, the Convener of ANA, Senator Ahmad Abubakar MoAllahyidi while addressing journalists on Saturday, said Senator Akume represents the north in Tinubu’s government.
“We have observed with keen interest the development unfolding in the Nigerian political space relating to the arguments and agitation by different interest groups as the Tinubu administration positions to set governance machinery in motion in fulfilment of the mandate given to it by the Nigerian people in the 2023 general election.
“Of particular interest to ANA at this point in time is the utterances of our own very respected elder statesman Chief Audu Ogbe, calling for the sack of the secretary to the Government of the Federation, His Excellency, Senator George Akume.
“The respected Chief Ogbeh recently led some stakeholders of Idoma extraction to address a press conference where they expressed misgivings over the inclusion of a Tiv man, as the ministerial nominee from Benue State claiming that the action further marginalised the Idoma race in the scheme of things in Benue State”, Senator MoAllahyidi said.
He said it would have been okay and taken as their democratic right to voice opinion and canvas for positions if Chief Ogbe and his co-agitators had stopped at that.
“But they went ahead to allege that the development is the handiwork of the SGF to spite the Idoma race and called for his sack. This is where ANA finds it strange, and wish to intervene by setting the record straight to avoid sending the wrong message to the Nigerian people”, he said.
ANA said “The appointment of H.E. Sen Akume as SGF by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the early days of setting up the governance machinery of his administration received wide acceptance across the length and breadth of the country especially amongst the different strata of political and social circles as it provided the balancing needed for political stability after the keenly contested 2023 presidential election.
“Sen. Akume’s appointment is a northern appointment from the north-central geopolitical zone and properly located among the northern Christian block for socio-political expediency.
An appointment that holds so much for the stability of the Nigerian nation must not be reduced to a Benue State local political fight.
“Sen. George Akume represents northern Nigeria in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet; more than that he is an essential political stabilizing rod maintaining balance in the Nigerian political equation”, he said.
ANA, however, called on Chief Audu Ogbe to retract their tirade against the SGF and reign in the young people disparaging the SGF in the interest of northern peace and unity and by extension national cohesion.
“In view of the recent socio-political developments in Benue State that pitched different political blocks against one another which threatened to set the State backward, ANA charge the elders of Benue State to rise to the occasion and ensure that peace reign and the State continue to shine as the food basket of the nation.
“All northerners are, therefore, called upon to rally round the SGF and support him in the discharge of his functions as the engine room of the Nigerian Government”, he added.
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