- The minister tackled NEF over a recent comment made by the forum that the north regrets voting for the President in the 2023 general election.
- Matawalle said any appointee must defend and promote the administration they work for.
Bello Matawalle, minster of state for defense has challenged, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Political adviser to the President and all appointees of the federal government of President Bola Tinubu from the North to take a stand up to be counted for being on the part of the administration or exit immediately.
Matawalle was reacting to the criticism of his earlier statement by Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Baba-Ahmed said it would have been better for the Tinubu administration if Matawalle had listed his achievements as minister
Matawalle had blasted the Northern Elders Forum for threatening that the north would not vote for Tinubu in 2027. He had called the group a political paperweight and a burden to the north.
The Minister pointed out that the need for Baba-Ahmed in particular to take a stand was necessary in view of his position as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Presidency.
The statement reads in part, “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 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 as ‘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 Northern Elders’ Forum(NEF)is 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 owe 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 for being on the part of the government or take our exit.”