- Alleges cabal hijacked Beta Edu investigative committee
- Says Oransanya Repor ill-timed
From Idu Jude, Abuja
Ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s official visit to Qatar, a chieftain of the ruling All-progressive Congress APC, Dr. Garus Gololo, has again reminded him to do well and respect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and hand power over to Vice-president Kassim Shettima to continue piloting the affairs of government in his absence.
The President is expected to honor an invitation by His Highness, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. According to an official release from Aso Villa, Bola Tinubu will depart Lagos State and embark on a two-day official visit to the State of Qatar on Thursday, 29 February 2024, to further strengthen cooperation between the two nations in several areas.
To this end, Dr. Gololo argued that handing over power to the Vice president whenever Mr. President leaves office is a constitutional provision in the governance that Should not be neglected.
According to him, time and time again, President Tinubu, has failed to transmit power to the Vice-President to pilot the affairs of government whenever he is out of the country.
Dr. Gololo said, “It amazes me the way we abuse the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And I found it difficult to believe that the person of President Tinubu should be the one doing this with all impunity. Time and time again, the Vice president has been treated like a piece of trash. He kept on representing the president at the Burial ceremony, commissioning of projects, and football Marches but found him unable to pilot the affairs of the nation.
He should know that we in the APC, know the constitution and electoral guidelines in this country. Kassim Shettima was elected just like Mr. President. Both of their names appeared on the INEC ballot papers and votes were cast. So he should not behave as if the office of the Vice -president has no constitutional backup.
In further clarifications, he observed that former President Mohammadu Buhari on several occasions has transmitted powers to his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, which yielded positive economic results.
He alleged that Tinubu’s government has bowed down to the power of Aso Villa cabals led by his Chief of Staff Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila. “I am not afraid to mention their names and these are people, who were not there when we took President Tinubu around the country during the Presidential election campaign. He Gbajabiamila was never allowed to be in the same plan with Tinubu. I just hope this cabal should not be worse than those who worked with former President Mohammadu Buhari and we all knew what happened.”
The APC chieftain has questioned the delay in the outcome of the Beta Edu presidential Investigative committee, to the disappointment of every awaiting Nigerian.
Dr. Gololo said that the committee seems to have become a mere political pronouncement to cool down tensions among Nigerians.
“If they cannot go ahead, then why not bring back Beta Edu to continue her job? She is a member of the ruling party and I know that the fear is how not to indict the Minister of Interior Tunji-Ojo, who was allegedly linked to the whole issue. I can tell you now that Beta Edu was just sacrificed because she is from the other side of the country.”
Commenting on the negative side of the Oransanya Report, he stated that the implementation of the report under the present economic situation is an attempt to throw more Nigerians into the labor market. a dire situation in addition to the already hash economy.
“What I am saying, is that people should not open different war fronts at the same time. To me, it is ill-timed and should be looked into because scraping agencies do not guarantee another job for such staff. We are here to advise him, and we know he is listening. The implementation of the report means cutting the number of workers and he forgot that this country is over 250 million people. What Nigerians want to hear now is how the price of a bag of rice would come down. How price of a bag of cement would be reduced, not creating avenues to sack Nigerians from their means of living.”