While claiming that certain sub-regional and geopolitical forces are working against the stability of the nation, the presidency on Sunday night ruled out the possibility of a cabal seizing control of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, as had been seen in the past. It did, however, note that the government will continue to work on finding solutions through collaborations.
Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity, provided this assurance in an interview with TVC News Sunday Politics. He also attributed the growing insecurity in certain northern regions to the actions of what he called “sub-regional forces” that are hostile to the nation’s stability.
Ngelale was responding to a number of themes that have been discussed in the media recently, such as the status of the economy, the fallout from the wrongdoings of former public servants, security, and the administration of President Tinubu’s multipronged attempts to put things right.
Ngelale responded to the notion that certain powerful officials in the current administration could be abusing their position of authority to mismanage and abuse public office, with potentially long-lasting consequences. Ngelale stated that President Tinubu is not that kind of leader, adding that he has not allowed any official to take advantage of such influence to take over his government.
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“The good fortune we have is that we elected, not just a professional accountant, a professional auditor, but we elected a man who fully understands the governance mechanisms, not just at the federal level, but at sub-national level. I think this is a man who anyone working in the office of the President would tell you, there is not one individual in the Presidency that has a monopoly over what the President sees, hears and reads. Nobody has that kind of power in the office of this President and that’s intentional.
“He is someone who everyone has access to, everyone who needs to have access to him, has access to him. He has direct communications on a frequent basis with the heads of intelligence agencies, anti-graft agencies, and the like. So there is not going to be the potential there for anyone to form a cabal around this President because he’s aware of the dynamics of what has happened in the past and he is determined to ensure that that is not replicated under his watch.
“I will also add the fact that in the person of the current CBN Governor Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, this is a man who is reputed around the world as being a prudent manager of men and resources. This is someone who has a reputation, even within the government, of being tight fisted and that is by the intention of President Bola Tinubu to have someone like that in place.
“I would also add that when you look at organizational structures that lead to Governor Emefiele, … put him in the position that he currently is in, the President has taken a comprehensive review of that structure and he has said, even by legislation, that we are going to ensure that not only guardrails are put in place, but that legislative changes be enacted in such a way that this can never happen again.
“He’s determined to do it, Nigerians will watch him do it and that will mean that moving forward, the kind of elite conspiracy we saw between CBN officials, high ranking government officials and high ranking members of the private sector, they’re not going to be able to conspire amongst themselves to find loopholes within the system because we have a President who’s an auditor and accountant, who will close those loopholes, just the way he did in Lagos State many years ago”, he said.
The presidential spokesperson, who also provided details about strategies to guarantee peace and stability throughout the nation, warned those who are now forming sub-regional conspiracies to deprive the country of security that they would be held accountable by the law.
“First of all, the President has been very clear that this is an administration of no excuses. If you look at other parts of the countries that were in flames before he took office, such as the Southeast and parts of the Southwest for example, you will know the level of work that has gone into securing our nation.
“Where we still have some challenges is in the north central in the northwest and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. There’s still a lot of work to be done along the Kaduna axis. Remember the time when you could not travel by road on the Abuja-Kaduna highway? Now, you’re able to do that.
“Now the problem is when you have these far-flung communities, we do have these hit-and-run incidences of not just violence and killings, but obviously kidnappings and hostage-taking.
“But I will say this, across the north, we understand that some of the sub-regional forces, sub-regional, geopolitical forces that are currently at play are actively conspiring against the stability of the Nigerian nation.
“We understand that and we are not sleeping on that. We are responding to it, and we’re doing it in a way that is concerted with our neighbors and it is worth noting that the United States government has also pledged its assistance to ensure that there is a full return of all of the school children who are kidnapped recently in Kaduna.
“But the point is, we are going to continue to intensify our collaboration, not just within the region, but internationally to make sure that some of the regional actors that are conspiring against our nation are brought to justice ultimately silenced in the future of our country”, he stated.
