An associate of President Muhammadu Buhari and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kano State has asked him to sack the Minister of Defence, a retired Major-General Salihi Magashi from office, for his incompetence and failure to secure the country.
Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwammanda also asked the probe the former Minster of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Sabo Nanono, who was sacked on Wednesday.
The call by Kwammanda comes amidst rising demands by Nigerians for more Ministers to be sacked for poor performance in the cabinet.
Buhari sacked Nanono and Minister of Power Saleh Mamman, in what the government described as a cabinet reshuffle. The government explained that the removal of the two ministers came after an assessment of the performance of the cabinet members.
The government explained that more ministers who performed poorly in the assessment would be shone the way out.
“Today, the North where Gen Magashi comes from is near collapse and taken over by bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements. Or is it not a reality that today, despite huge billions of money spent on defence armoury, one cannot travel peacefully across Nigeria?,” Kwammanda said told journalists in Kano on Friday.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is trying marvellously in the area of security of the nation but look at what is happening? Insecurity. This administration has spent a lot to procure military hardware and other security gadgets, but because the Defence Minister is not up to the task, security challenges are still confronting the nation.
“Now, the president should sack Magashi and appoint competent people from Kano who can deliver. We also have enough retired Generals in Kano State who can do the job of Defence and bring peace not only to the North but to the entire federation.,” he said.
He is a former Chairman of The Buhari Campaign Organisation, and long-time friend and a strong political supporter of the president.
Both Nanono and Magashi hail from Kano, just like Kwammanda.
Kwammanda said Nanono’s removal was not enough. He said Buhari should engage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to thoroughly probe the former minister’s activities while in office.
“I opposed their appointments and told the president that if he is looking for performance, he should drop their names because they will not perform. I said we, the Kano people will regret it, because they will not deliver and Nigerians would not be happy with us.
“Today, Nanono has been fired for poor performance; I am vindicated. The president should also sack Magashi now before (it becomes too late) if the president really wants to reinvigorate his cabinet and consolidate his achievements.
“The presidency should quickly set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the tenure of Nanono as Agric minister, while the EFCC on its part should commence investigation of his financial dealings.
“My plea, however, is that President Muhammadu Buhari should replace the sacked minister of Agriculture with someone from Kano because there are many politicians who can perform extremely well,” the politician added.
