…says Ministers sabotaging Gov’t should be sacked
Philomina Brando
A formidable support group within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has joined league of callers for Nigeria’s President to rejig his cabinet, with the view to purging those sabotaging his government.
The group, APC League of Democrats, in a statement signed on Monday and made available to newsmen in Abuja by the National Coordinator, Hon. Babajide Oyewole, and the Secretary, Chief Rowland Okonkwo; said the cabinet reshuffling was long overdue, calling for outright removal of some Ministers.
The APC group urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, not to delay further in carrying out “this urgent task”, as further delay would cause more damage to the government and by extension, hamper the chances of APC in the 2027 general elections.
“We are seasoned politicians and can read between lines when appointees are working anticlockwise to sabotage the good intentions and programs of the very government they seem to be representing. This is not the first time. We have seen it all and we would not allow history to repeat itself. It happened to President Goodluck Jonathan, some of us saw it coming and we raised alarm, but nothing was done”, the group said.
They specifically mentioned the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy, Mr. Wale Edun and the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite amongst those to be relieved of their duties, without delay.
“Those Ministers who are up and doing, like the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, that of Works, Dave Umahi, could be retained in their current positions, while most of them should be reshuffle, to give room for efficiency and service delivery. The two Ministers controlling Finance, Wale Edun and Doris Uzoka-Anite must be relieved of their duties, as a matter of urgency, and in the best interest of our great party and national peace”, the statement added.
The group further highlighted some of the misgivings of the Ministers of Finance which warranted the call for their removal, amongst which is their refusal to honour the President’s directives in resolving the lingering impasse between the Federal Government and Indigenous Contractors in Nigeria.
According to the statement, the ongoing faceoff was avoidable, considering the fact that President Tinubu had openly given an order that those local contractors who have been owed cumulatively N4 trillion since 2024 should be cleared of their debts.
The group argued that, such defiance from the Ministers does not only amount to great sabotage of the efforts of the President to revive the nation’s economy; it has also tinted the economy and painted Nigeria in a bad light.
“One thing the Ministers have refused to understand is that, a protest anywhere against the government is characteristically positioned to damage the image of that government and demarket it by reducing its public image in the eyes of the international community, some of whom are potential investors. No one would like to invest in an economy that is not progressing and no circulation.
“Is it not enough that the association of local contractors had severally blocked the entrance of the Federal Ministry of Finance Complex, the very secretariat and administrative hub of the nation’s economy? We also read on news recently that about one thousand Civil Society Organizations, most of which have foreign connections and do submit reports to various quarters, sanctioned the ongoing protest and were calling on the President to purge the Ministers of their duties, to save the nation from embarrassment.
“We also saw in the news on Thursday last week, where many young Lawyers, in their hundreds barricaded the Finance Building, in support of the protesting contractors and accused Uzoka-Anite of selective payments to cronies and allies. We want this allegation investigated and let the needful be done. But the President should not delay further in doing any of these, especially, in removing those unproductive Ministers.
“Aside the pains and embarrassments the actions of the two Ministers have caused those local contractors, most of whom are currently suffering acute bankruptcy as a result of unserviceable loans taken two years ago to execute the FG contracts; the economy is also at the receiving end as currency circulation is in short supplies, affecting virtually all spheres of human daily living.
“The worst hit, which we would not take, is the tendency of affecting the APC chances in 2027. We would not allow sabotages to rewrite history of 2015 in the coming elections. The President must rise to these patriotic calls by Nigerians and do the needful, before it is too late”, the statement reads.
It would be recalled that Association of Indigenous Contractors of Nigeria began a sustained protest, blocking the main entrance of the Federal Ministry of Finance, two weeks ago, thereby preventing the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Uzoka-Anite from accessing her office.
The local contractors are protesting non-payment of N4 trillion contract sum of the projects they had since executed, as contained in the 2024 budget. Most of the projects had since been commissioned by the Federal Government.
Despite the interventions of the National Assembly and President Tinubu, urging that the said debts be paid, the Contactors are still seeing at the Finance Ministry, protesting, accusing the Ministers of non-payment and selective payments.