The Northern Progressives Union has urged President Bola Tinubu not to take former northern governors into his government, saying that they won’t bring about any significant changes.
The appeal, which was made in a statement released on Monday by NPU Coordinator Mohammed Kiyawa, was made in response to mounting concern over the president’s list of ministerial nominees’ ongoing postponement.
Kiyawa urged Tinubu to refrain from picking any of the recently-departed state governors from the North as ministers or cabinet members.
According to him, some of the governors betrayed the trust of the party and allegedly worked in favour of the opposition in the last presidential election.
“We are foot soldiers of the APC in this part of the country and therefore making a categorical statement urging Mr President and the APC as a political party not to entertain the idea of nominating any of the former governors from the region in the incoming cabinet. They do not have the required capacities and capabilities to drive the process.
“Our demand is legitimate and is consequent upon the misdeeds that some of them during the 2023 general elections were mostly moles and fifth columnists used by the opposition parties and in most cases funds given to them for elections were personalised and kept for self-serving purposes,” the statement partly read.
Continuing, the group noted that if the president is serious about letting the poor breath and meeting the expectations of Nigerians through his ‘Renewed Hope’ action plan, he should steer clear of self-serving former state governors who will ultimately not bring anything to the table.
The NPU coordinator also noted that described them as ‘spent force and failed politicians who can’t fit into the reality of the president’s visionary plan for the country.
“While President Tinubu was mobilising at all levels, the former governor seeking ministerial nomination could not deliver votes from his area. Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara states can be adjudged among the least politically astute states in Northern Nigeria; hence they are more likely to move in line with the body language of their key leaders that they identify with and not necessarily any other factor.
“In Jigawa State 2023 presidential election, the Hadeijia Emirate, consisting of Birniwa, Kirikasamma, Guri, Hadejia, Malam Madori, Kaugama, Auyo and Kafin Hausa local governments, massively voted for APC owing to the fact that one of them was made APC governorship candidate for the first time. The garnered votes were not necessarily due to any funds disbursed by the former governor.
“In the first place, the governor never disbursed any money and the truth is that the Peoples Democratic Party outspent APC. This is the reason PDP gathered considerable votes.
“Otherwise, it should have been a landslide for APC because of the zoning arrangement in favour of the governorship candidate of our great party as stated.
“APC did very well in the Ringim Emirate, consisting of Ringim, Garki, Taura, and Gagarawa owing to the philanthropy of a man called Gerawa, who’s arguably the biggest entrepreneur in the state and the biggest investor in the politics of the state.
“As for the Kazaure zone, which is the governor’s zone, it was more of even between the two parties; again, it may be due to a lack of necessary goodwill and lack of appropriate resources. The local governments include Babura, Kazaure, Gwiwa, Roni, Yankwashi,” he stated.
Continuing, he disclosed that the PDP had a good show in the Gumel Emirate, which comprised Gumel, Maigatari and Sule Tankarkar local governments, owing largely to traditional PDP apologists and the refusal of some northern governors to mobilise their people.
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