Tinubu has shown quality leadership, capacity to deliver –Amos Gizo, fmr Plateau governorship aspirant
Chief Amos Gizo is a chieftain of the APC in Plateau State and a die-hard fan of President Tinubu. In this interview, the former governorship aspirant spoke on subsidy regime, national security and Plateau APC.
What is your take on the first steps taken by Mr President so far, especially the removal of subsidy and appointments of service chiefs?
Yes, its been one month into the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, first month of serious actions and activities. And so far, Mr President has shown determination to turn things around for the good of the nation. Mr President has taken proactive steps that some people are thinking he has increased hardship, and he has also taken steps that have gladened the minds of the people.
On the issue of subsidy removal, it is a fact from all indications and information available to government and Nigerian citizens that the billions and billions of Naira that go into the subsidy policy has not helped to make things better for citizens over the years. Let us be sincere to ourselves as Nigerians, the subsidy regime has only made few Nigerians billionaires. I mean the subsidy funds has benefited only few. I am part of the team who put up the document that recommend to Mr President that let the subsidy be removed because we found out that it will be better for Nigerians to pay higher for petrol and the subsidy funding be invested into our infrastructures, education, health and other social amenities.
If you know how much has been saved so far since the removal of subsidy, it is a huge amount that can give Nigerians thousand kilometers of roads. This would have equally gone to pockets of individuals if the subsidy is still there.
The removal of subsidy now means it is an open market for petrol marketers to sell the product as they like. You are already aware that A. A. Rano for example, has reduced his own price to N400 per litre. And the price will continued to go down and down to that affordable price for Nigerians.
So I believe that a political leader like President Tinubu would not have removed the subsidy without putting everything into consideration. Nigerians will soon realize that Mr President means well for this country and her citizens when the cabinet is put in place and actions commence with the application of the subsidy funds.
On national security and appointment of service chiefs, this is another striking achievements of the first 30 days in office of Mr President. I mean the speed with which he made the appointment of service chiefs. He showed he was prepared for leadership and already knows what to do to reset the security architecture of the country. He has showed that he knows the citizens very well and he knows who is capable of doing what especially in the area of national security. He swung into action in appointing the service chiefs, and the way and manner Mr President made those appointments was deliberately done to address the lopsidedness of the appointments done by the last administration.
You remember several sections of this country were crying of the lopsidedness of the security chiefs of the past government. Many Nigerians had observed that the Buhari administration did not succeed in the area of internal security due to the lopsidedness of the service chiefs. Buhari inherited Boko Haram, but in their attempt to fight Boko Haram, banditry emerged under his watch and even spread to become a national challenge.
But with the quality of people Tinubu has appointed as service chiefs, Mr President meant business. President Tinubu is a leader that wants results; those appointed, or anyone to be appointed should not take the humility and kindness of Mr President for granted. You will realize that these security chiefs were picked from various zones, it then means when they will be holding security council meetings, the reports coming in will reflect what is happening across the country, not the case in the past where all of them come from one zone trying to resolve national security challenges.
Plateau APC just held a stakeholders meeting and you were in attendance, do you think all is well with the party in the state?
Yes, I was in that meeting of APC, but my worry was that the party leaders claimed to have held a reconciliatory meeting, but what we did during the meeting was not looking like reconciliation because if they called it reconciliation, which faction and which faction are you reconciling. And what was the resolution after the reconciliation.
Those of us that came from the other faction came because we heard, we were not invited, no invitation from our platforms indicating that we were invited to a stakeholders’ meeting. And it was deceptive for anyone to take that meeting as a reconciliatory meeting. It was just a meeting of critical stakeholders. If you noticed in that stakeholders meeting, there was no agenda for the meeting, they just came in prepared for selected people to speak. And if it was a reconciliation meeting as they tried to claim, who spoke on behalf of my group. But we were there as stakeholders. It was not a reconciliatory meeting. APC belong to all of us, the conference hall they held that meeting I set it up when I was chairman of ACN, I consider myself as a critical stakeholder. I came to that meeting as the leader of the other group, and I was not given opportunity to talk. But Lalong understood that some of us are aggrieved and he used the opportunity to tender apology, that to me is not reconciliation.
You cannot talk about reconciliation without talking about what caused the conflict in the first place. So, to me, the meeting was just a waste of time, there was nothing like reconciliation. They will continue to pretend; there is no faction in Plateau APC, let them look at the APC in Nasarawa State, the people that were denied the party ticket went into SDP and they won elections; is that the progress of a ruling party? Nobody is contesting that Lalong is the leader of the party, I could not talk of contesting that position because I have never been a governor; if there was an APC governor before Lalong, he would not have been the party leader, the constitution is very clear about it. But the high time they stopped pretending, the better for the party. We have just started, and we shall see how it will end.
APC in the states are already sending list for ministerial appointment, with the crisis in the party, who will send the list?
Ministerial appointment is not about list of names submitted by the party, ministerial appointment is a prerogative of Mr President. All I know is that, in states where there is no faction, the president may work with the list. But in states where there are factions, Mr President know what to do.
Sunnewsonline.com
