The Concerned Northern Frontier (CNF) has urged President Bola Tinubu to carry on with good policies of the past administration, warning that attempts to cancel or set aside projects started by the immediate administration will be detrimental.
The Convener of the group, Mohammed Bassa raised the concern at a press conference addressed on Monday in Abuja.
Bassa revealed that the group has been notified that approvals and projects started by the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration before leaving office are being cancelled or set aside, stressing that such hostility signals trouble for the nascent Tinubu’s government.
Group however, criticised the current Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa for making unprintable remarks concerning most agencies under him, as well as questioned award of contracts under him, while calling on National Assembly to carry out their oversight function to further investigate allegations of favouritism on contract awards against the minister.
The statement reads:
“We (CNF) have watched over time activities of some Ministers under President Tinubu’s government that are signaling trouble ahead for the regime based on their actions and activities against the people oriented policies of the former government.
“It has come to our notice that most of them are cancelling approvals and setting aside approvals granted by the former administration before leaving office. This shows a clear hostility against the former administration: rather it should continue on the good policies but what we are having is a needless battle for supremacy which we as a group believe is without the consent of the President and thus must be checked on time.
“The current Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has been making unprintable remarks concerning most agencies under him, with emphasis on Federal Mortgage Bank, an agency he led before being appointed as Minister. We wish to know under what basis he is evaluating them, when he himself has not in any way shown genuine leadership and needed transformation in the housing and urban sector ever since his inception in office.
“We are demanding to know how much he has collected since assumption in office as Minister and what he used the allocation of N100 billion released to the Ministry for.
“Let him come clean on the deliverables he has achieved till date. We also wish to know the real intention of the various committees set up to review the agencies under him, we hope it’s not to set in place some hidden privatization agenda which negates the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“Privatization of these agencies will knock out mass of our people working in these agencies into the labour market, especially those in the Federal Mortgage Bank and Federal Housing Authority.
“We implore the National Assembly to carry out their oversight function to further investigate reasons why the said Minister is revoking old contracts and re- awarding the same to new persons based on settlement. This act calls for concern and should be investigated to prevent a Cold War between the former regime and the present.
“The steps and statements undertaken by the Hon. Ministers are pointers to the fact that the Minister is destroying legacies of the previous government via reversal and cancelation of policies already being implemented. In actual fact, the Hon. Minister should complement and add value to policies that have received the accolades of Nigerians and not reverse them for selfish interests.
“This informs why we call on the Hon. Minister to face the renewed hope agenda and stop the hidden hatred agenda he’s pushing.
“We are aware of significant progress and transformation made by the Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Authority with significant improvement, delivering over 4,000 housing units in just one year over the 6 geo- political zones using site & service, direct and PPP models. This and many more are what the Hon. Minister should work hard to deliver to Nigerians and not to truncate and start afresh.
“We don’t need any policy reversal or somersault for now, rather all hands must be on deck to rally round the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver the mandate of Renewed Hope Agenda to Nigerians.
“As a group rooting for the renewed hope agenda of Mr President, we call on the Minister and other heads of agencies with similar traits to stop and focus on deliverables needed now and not discredit what has been done by the former administration but rather it should build upon it and make it more robust.
“The agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Ministry should be allowed to deliver on their mandate and further encouragement rather than what we are having now.
“It is also instructive for President Tinubu to call to order those Ministers trying to play politics with the approvals and progress made by the former regime. They should be made to work and support the renewed hope agenda by showing records of their new initiatives and not passing uncomplimentary comments on activities of the previous government.
“We further re-affirm our support for the renewed hope agenda of Mr. President and appeal to Nigerians to be patient for this administration to deliver on its promises. We as a group believe that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will surely deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda promised to Nigerians.
We, on our part, will regularly expose those with negative intentions within the government.”