‘Delivery Is What Matters’ – Atiku’s Aide On Tinubu’s Alleged Lopsided Appointment

Umar Ardo

Umar Ardo, former Special Adviser on Research and Strategy to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the alleged lopsided appointment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not matter.

According to Ardo, delivery should be considered irrespective of the regions of the appointees.

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He stressed that immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari appointed northerners in most sectors, but they failed to deliver.

On the country’s economic situation, Ardo posited that the removal of fuel subsidy is an appeasement to international monetary organisations and is not helping the country.

Asked if he had pitched his tent with Tinubu, Ardo said he does not have a close relationship with the President even though he is currently reaping from the sweat of his effort in contriving the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“I have no business with him aside that he’s my country’s President. Other than when I was in the Villa serving as an adviser on State and Local Government Affairs, and he was the governor of Lagos State, we used to meet and relate purely in an official capacity, I never had anything to do with him. I can say I don’t know him from Adam. But I can also say he is unknowingly presently reaping from the sweat of my efforts in contriving the APC.

READ ALSO: “No Student Will Drop Out Of School Under My Govt” – Tinubu Assures

“But as Nigeria’s President, I pray for him to succeed. I hope for the sake of the country that he does. But for President Tinubu to succeed, he needs to focus on probity and accountability. The previous administration did not do that. They will give responsibility and there will not be any follow-up on that. I also thought he was going to address Nigeria’s problems, corruption.

“I am not worried at all; if those he appoints will deliver, I don’t care where they are from. What we want is delivery. After all, President Buhari appointed mostly northerners in most sectors of the country, but did they deliver? What benefits was it for the North? I don’t do things based on North-South, Muslim-Christian sentiments. Our country has collapsed, and I can only hope and pray for the success of President Tinubu’s administration.

“It is unfortunate that under him, the country is having serious problems, hunger, starvation, and poverty, especially in northern Nigeria. The removal of the fuel subsidy is an appeasement to international monetary organisations as far as I am concerned. But it is not helping the country; we are not subsidising anything. If President Tinubu wants to change the country, he must change the mode of governing the country because the mode of governance is faulty,” Ardo detailed in a chat with Punch.