Former campaign spokesman President Bola Tinubu in southeast and current Chairman of Forum of Former Members of Enugu State House of Assembly (FOF-MENHA), Dr. Josef Onoh has through his weight behind the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, in urging the president’s appointees from the northern extraction to stand up in Defence of President Tinubu’s attack by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).

The Northern Elders Forum had accused President Tinubu of marginalizing the north in his administration, saying that they now regret having voted for Tinubu; but Matawalle had risen against the NEF and urged his fellow appointees under Tinubu’s administration, particularly the president’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed to stand up and be counted for being part of Tinubu’s administration instead of keeping quiet in the face of intimidation of the President by the north.

Onoh had recently waded into the face-off between the NEF and President Tinubu, naming Tinubu’s major appointees from the north, even as against his southeast zone he said has remained passive in the present administration.

Onoh said it was sad that the Northern Elders Forum do not appreciate the progress and development, particularly on the rehabilitation of the Almajeris, being made in the north by President Tinubu, stating that since they cannot appreciate Tinubu’s strides, they should also regret the appointments the president made from the north.

He stated that it was disappointing that all the president’s appointees from the north have remained silent in the bashing of Tinubu by the Northern Elders Forum, and have refused to defend the president. He hailed Matawalle for being probably the only northern in defence of the President. He said that this was the right time to speak to determine the stand of each and every one.

“If they cannot come out to showcase the works of Mr President, then it’s high time the President reorganized his cabinet to get competent hands that can work together with him. It has either been the Vice President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and now Matawalle, outside these three; no other person from the north is concerned about the president’s defence, including some of the southerners except for Bayo Onanuga, Tunde Rahman and few others,” Onoh said.

He recalled that Femi Fani-Kayode, Frank Nweke Jnr, and Osita Chidoka defended President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration against any political and opposition verbal attacks. The same thing Onoh said was the case with Reno Omokiri and Ruben Abatti who defended flawlessly and exceptionally the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan up till the present day, that everyone thinks twice before giving false narratives of the administration.

“Today Reno Omokiri is one of the greatest Ambassadors of the Tinubu-led administration and one of the best promoters of our nation and he holds no political office under the Tinubu government, but rather does that as a patriotic Nigerian who wants his nation to succeed and I ask, where are the President’s appointees? Lai Mohammed was questioned by his grandchildren because of his notoriety for defending the Buhari-led administration, same as Bashir Ahmed who till today still defends the Buhari administration. They are in total and alarming contrast with what is happening in the current administration.

“Nigerians should learn the general framework of the Tinubu-led government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, which is expected to have been promoted by the appointees of the President. They should have been vocal at all times and educated the masses where the achievements of the administration touch their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government.

“Rather most of the President’s appointees have made it look like a distant thing, someone else’s business. The President’s appointees have forgotten that the most important responsibility is to promote his administration like a wheel or bar with a series of projections on its edge, which transfers motion by engaging with projections on another wheel they must bear their share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine. This is not being done by their continuous silence.

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do only a little. Hence I urge the president’s appointees to look beyond the euphoria of their respective offices and stand in defence of the government. Even the various support groups that have not benefited anything from the government are more dedicated and committed in defence of the current administration making sacrifices without reward while those rewarded don’t care.

“It’s expected that the current appointees especially from the North themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a compact with each other to produce and serve this government: and this is the only mode in which these appointees have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to hold their various appointments.

“Finally moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice.

It’s time for Mr President to overhaul his cabinet as the majority of his appointees don’t share the same vision with him. It’s either by their voices heard, they are with us or by their silence they are against us. I commend and stand with Mattawale on his submissions.”