Amidst escalating critiques from opposition representatives, Northern ministers within President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet have commenced demonstrating their support for the administration.
Several ministers have recently adopted a more assertive stance in light of the disparagement directed towards the incumbent government by prominent elites and political figures.
It is posited that the Presidency has issued directives to political leaders, ministers, and individuals holding other significant political positions to mobilize and counter dissenting voices.
The Tinubu administration has recently faced substantial scrutiny from political factions and influential party members, including former governors.
The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has addressed recent criticisms levied by certain political figures.
He denounced former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for making what he characterized as “reckless and inflammatory” remarks against Tinubu, emphasizing that such statements are perilous, particularly as the government endeavors to fortify national unity and security.
In a similar manner, Matawalle responded to the Northern Elders Forum’s expressed remorse regarding their endorsement of Tinubu in the 2023 general elections.
He admonished the NEF, labeling it a “political burden to northerners” and accusing the organization of striving to undermine the rights of others for personal advantage.
A former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, along with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, also engaged in a public disagreement regarding the President.
El-Rufai charged the NSA with exhibiting “serious amnesia” for refuting past assertions in which he purportedly characterized President Tinubu as the “most corrupt” politician.
He additionally referenced documentation from a 2006 Federal Executive Council meeting, wherein Ribadu, as the then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, allegedly made comparable accusations against Tinubu.
In retort, Ribadu, through his legal representative, demanded a public apology and retraction from El-Rufai.
In a parallel context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has recently countered criticisms of President Tinubu’s administration articulated by Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
Mohammed had charged the Tinubu government with failing to fulfill its commitments, inciting a vehement rebuttal from Tuggar.
The minister characterized the governor’s statements as “mischievous” and urged him to refrain from misleading the public regarding national issues.
Tuggar underscored that Bauchi State has experienced a notable increase in federal allocations attributable to fiscal reforms, yet lamented the lack of substantial progress.
He further accused the governor of attempting to monopolize the state and employing strategies that had previously incited unrest during his tenure as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
A prominent ally of one of the two defence ministers in the Tinubu cabinet indicated that the northern leaders had received mandates to confront the escalating opposition against the President.
The source said, “Yes, we need to silence these nay-sayers,” alluding to the campaigns of the 2027 anti-Tinubu forces from the North.
“I’m sure that of recent, you have seen many of the ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet coming out to counter these oligarchs as you call them.
“They are in the minority and the President or the Presidency is not afraid of them, but we too, and by this, I mean our political leaders, ministers, and holders of other top political appointments have been given the mandate and marching orders by the Presidency to move to the campaign fields and counter the naysayers from the elites in the north.”
Another reliable source in the presidential villa and principal officer to Tinubu told Sunday PUNCH that aside from the marching orders to political office holders of northern extraction to resell the President to the North, there was strong contention between the two subzones in the region over where the pendulum would swing to after 2027.
He said, “The issue goes beyond the 2027 presidential ambition of the President. Many of these politicians from the north who are in our government know the implications of not supporting Tinubu’s ambition for 2027.
“They know that two notable zones in the North — the North West and North East — are now sharply divided over where the presidential candidate of the ruling APC after 2027 should come from and who will succeed President Tinubu in 2031.
“While notable politicians from the North-West including ex-Senator Wammako and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, are fighting tooth and nail to discredit President Tinubu from running for second term in 2027, those from the North-East, including the incumbent Vice President, Kassim Shettima, and some ministers in the cabinet such as the Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate; and his Foreign Affairs counterpart are working on the formula that the Presidency should go to the North East.”
Continuing, the source maintained that “the recent onslaught by El-Rufai to paint President Tinubu in a bad light in the North has been countered by the people working for him (Tinubu)while the President has also strengthened his supporters with appointments and projects.”
