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From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Southern Kaduna Renew Hope Movement (SKRHM) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to appoint Dr Abdulmalik Durunguwa as a replacement for ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai.
El-Rufai was reported to have resigned his nomination following the controversy surrounding his non-clearance by the Senate over a security report.
Dr Durunguwa, a Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission, hails from Southern Kaduna.
The group in a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator and its Secretary, Yusuf Kanhu, and Secretary, Abubakar Jamilu, issued to newsmen in Kaduna said nobody from the Southern Kaduna region had been made a minister under the administration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) since 2015.
According to the statement, Dr Durunguwa remains one of the greatest contributors and mobilizers that brought the APC-led government to power in Kaduna state, adding such individual deserved to be rewarded with a bigger responsibility.
“Since the return of Democracy in 1999, there has been a gentlemanly agreement, when the office of the Governor goes to zone one, naturally, the deputy governorship position and Minister should go to Zone 2nd or 3rd Senatorial zones to ensure that all the 3 Senatorial zones be fully represented at both the state and the Federation.
“Despite the countless contributions made by the APC-led administration, the region has been overlooked and neglected in the allocation of ministerial positions under the ruling party.
“None of these influential positions have been occupied by individuals hailing from Kaduna-South under the APC government.
“We are appealing to President Tinubu to hasten the nomination of Dr. Abdulmalik Durunguwa, from Kaduna-South who was recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Federal Commissioner of National Population Commission.
“Our coming together as a group was not based on a political party but rooted in the realism that we are stronger together if the ruling Party wants to maintain its position to enthrone an inclusive leadership that will secure and unite Nigerians.
“Dr Abdulmalik Durunguwa is an astute academician, civilized and morally oriented seasoned administrator with the requisite experience and strength of character to pilot the affairs of any office in Nigeria having served as the first Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management (SEMA) under the Governor Ahmed Makarfi, a lecturer and 2023 APC Gubernatorial Aspirant.
“He had held so many positions before his recent appointment as the Federal Commissioner of National Population Commission by the Buhari Administration.
“Since the present administration under President Tinubu has shown signs of being a people’s oriented government, we are pleading that someone like Durunguwa from Southern Kaduna Zone be considered for the ministerial appointment,” the statement read.
