Ben Agande & James Uwem
10 September 2008
ALHAJI Babagana Kingibe who was dropped on Monday by President Umaru Yar'Adua as Secretary to the Government of the Federation declared yesterday that he remained a loyal supporter of the administration and the ruling PDP, irrespective of his removal.
It was his first reaction to his removal.
And yesterday, at least, five state governors and Cameroun's Vice Prime Minister, Mr Amadou Ali, took turns, visiting President Umaru Yar'Adua to express their solidarity, just 24 hours after his first public appearance in 17 days.
In a farewell speech at his handing over to the new SGF, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, in Abuja, Alhaji Kingibe said his appointment was at the instance of the President, and therefore, it was nothing strange that the man who appointed him now deemed it fit to remove him.
He expressed confidence in the ability of his successor, Alhaji Yahale to deliver.
"My position now is to pull together all men and women of goodwill to make sure that this administration fulfills its promises of making Nigeria a great nation by networking with people that matter to help this government," he said, adding that he was lucky during his short tenure to enjoy the support and goodwill of excellent and hard working professional civil servants and technocrats who assisted him tremendously to carry out the burden of running the office.
He urged the staff to support the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation to effectively administer the affairs of the government.
His words: "I must say that government and the nation are entering the implementation phase of consolidating economic, political gains of this administration, for which the President has devoted all his energy and intellect to lay in the past 15 months. We all must support this administration."
Alhaji Yayale asked Nigerians to pray for Kingibe to be more resourceful in his endeavours.
The new SGF promised to diligently serve the nation to the best of his ability and not to let the country down. He solicited the support of all Nigerians.
Govs pay solidarity visit
On the list of the visiting Governors were Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Theodore Orji (Abia), Modu Shariff (Borno), and Peter Obi (Anambra).
The meetings were held behind closed door, a contrast to Monday's public appearance of the President.
Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) had earlier visited on Monday.
As Governor Orji of Abia emerged from his visit to the President, he told State House Correspondent that some members of the President's People's Democratic Party (PDP) even wished the president dead.
He said members of the opposition parties believed in Yar'Adua's concept of government of National Unity and wished him well in office.
"If you take a good look at the people criticising him (the president), they are even the ones in the President's party. They are the ones criticising him and wishing him dead. People in the opposition are not wishing him bad, they are wishing him well," he said, adding that from what he saw of the President, it was clear that he (President) was capable of steering the affairs of the state.
But he was quick to add thateven if the President was sick, "haven't you heard of presidents who ruled on wheel chairs? Sure, the president is okay and very capable.
"I have seen it that the President is okay but the way they were talking about it, honestly, you would expect that if you came here you would not see any person in that office. But he is there attending to people.
Sickness is a normal thing that comes to any person. No person is above being sick. Some people have their own sickness and are hiding it. There is no big man you see that has not got one sickness or the other which he is hiding somewhere and going overseas to treat everyday.
So why should the president's own be a different thing. It is only natural that one has to be sick and it is normal that you will be well one day," the governor said.
On his part, Governor Modu Shariff of Borno State said sickness and good health were from God and it was wrong of anybody to make an issue out of it.
"I think it will be wrong for people to say things about the state of health. We are all human beings. It is only God who does not get sick. Because you are a leader or a president does not mean you cannot get sick.
We are happy that he has returned and he is well. We pray God to continue to strengthen him to steer the leadership of the country," he said.
Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State said the President was "radiating joy to me. He was quite happy, quite excited. I saw him working very hard and I didn't want to bother him too much but we discussed matters of state."
Asked why the governors were kept in the dark about the president's health, the governors said: "That could not be right. We had information about where the president went. And of course, there was the insinuation that he combined that with medical procedure and that is normal. I do that myself all the time, so they are non issues."
Otunba Daniel also debunked media reports that he walked out former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying such a practice was a taboo in Yorubaland.
"We don't walk out on elders in Yorubaland. We don't do that. No matter what, we don't behave that way," he emphasized.
Cameroun' Vice PM too
And receiving Camerounan's Vice Prime Minister, Mr. Ali, Presidential Yar'Adua urged nations of the world to emulate Nigeria and Cameroun by peacefully resolving their differences instead of resorting to war.
According to him, with the full implementation of the Green-Tree Accord on the Bakassi Peninsula last month, Nigeria and Cameroun have set a good example on the peaceful resolution of differences.
"The peaceful resolution of the Bakassi Peninsula crisis between Nigeria and Cameroun has set an example to the world on good neighbourliness and how nations can resolve their differences without recourse to war and bloodletting," he said.
He assured the envoy that in the spirit of the continuing cordial relations between both countries, the Federal Government would give favourable consideration to Cameroun's request for Nigeria's support for her candidature in upcoming elections to a vacant United Nations position.
The President on Monday decorated the new Chief of Defence Staff, and other Service Chiefs. He also dropped Alhaji Babagana Kingibe as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
