Posted by Mr. Bello Matawalle, minister of state for defense, claimed that the Northern Elders Forum are a political burden on the North and paperweights. Senator Kabiru Marafa, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima 2023 Presidential Campaign in Zamfara State, has refuted this accusation.
Matawalle had previously characterized the Northern Elders as “paperweights and a burden” in a statement titled “Tinubu Presidency: Northern Elders Forum, a political burden to the North, they do not speak for the region.”
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Instead of painting the Northern elders in a negative light, Marafa stated that Matawalle could have detailed President Bola Tinubu’s first ten months in office in terms of the programs and policies he implemented, as well as the projects he oversaw both locally and nationally.
“The president is working tirelessly towards addressing the numerous challenges facing all segments and sectors of the country, among them terrorism, insurgency, economic and financial malfeasance and infrastructural decay, to list a few,” he said, adding that it was counterproductive and a great disservice to the president to summon the elders of the region, which had the highest number of votes to guarantee Tinubu’s presidential victory.
Instead of groveling and making ill-advised remarks, Marafa said that President Tinubu requires his appointees’ support, devotion, and hard effort to implement the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Marafa, who was the senator for the Zamfara Central District from 2011 to 2019, demanded that the minister immediately retract the insulting statement and provide a sincere apologies to the elders of the North and everyone who live there.