Three frontline support groups, South East Patriots Assembly (SEPA), BAT Initiative for Good Governance (BIGG) and BOLASHETT Support Group (BSG) whose members across the country are waiting to see major positive shift in the nation’s fortunes under the coming dispensation, have hailed the recent assurance by former Chief of Army Staff and immediate past Minister of the Interior, Lieutenant General Bello Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd) that President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fully ready to take off and work to better the lots of Nigerians.
They took this position in separate statements issued yesterday in Abuja, saying that majority Nigerians could not wait for the President-elect to take charge and commence implementing his campaign promises contained in his Renewed Hope Agenda which they believe will harness the greatest good for the greatest number of Nigerians.
It would be recalled that Lt General Dambazau who was National Adviser on Strategic Engagement to the now-dissolved APC Presidential Campaign Council (APCPCC) had told newsmen last Friday shortly after an audience with the President-elect at Defence House in Abuja that since elections had been conducted with INEC pronouncing the winner of the elections as a settled matter, the process of forming the new government which he said had since commenced was being concluded because the winner is ready to take charge.
“Elections have been conducted, INEC has already made pronouncement as to who won the elections, and that is settled, anybody who has an issue over that by now must have gone to court, so they should allow the court to look into the issues, there should be no interference on what they do, but as far as we are concerned, we have a President-elect ready to take over government’’, Lt General Dambazau was quoted as saying.
General Dambazau’s comments have elicited higher hopes among several support groups which worked for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket during the elections.
In a statement signed by Mr. Magnus Nkire on behalf of SEPA, the group described as very high the expectations of many Nigerians, pointing out that before the last elections, the nation was almost at a tipping point.
“It bears no repeating that the collective expectations of many Nigerians are very high with respect to the anticipated stellar performance of the Bola Tinubu-led government. That was why the turnout at the last elections was very high, that was also why agitated and anxious Nigerians trooped out en masse to vote for Tinubu. We are therefore excited by General Dambazau’s assurance that the President-elect is ready to roll come May 29’’, he said.
The secretary general of BIGG, Mr. Abdullahi Kuraye who disclosed that his Kano-based group was more of a voluntary, non-profit socio-economic platform than political, noted that General Dambazau’s comments on the readiness of the President-elect should be considered as a clarion to all Nigerians to begin to engage in a new mode of earnest and robust expectation of a fresh breath of life in the country under the incoming government.
“General Abdulrahman Dambazau is a man with immense clout, character and conviction within and outside the country. We are a group of young, ambitious and hopeful Nigerians, we hold him in the greatest esteem. He is well respected in many top quarters, so listening to him give such assurance is a shot in the arm in our hope in the incoming government. We are excited Dambazau led many of us to work for a winning team.
“Therefore, we are fully involved in the new government. But our involvement will make more meaning if, after casting our votes for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on February 25, we must do more by galvanizing public support and understanding for it in the coming years to raise the bar of good governance in the country’’, Kuraye said.
The convener of BOLASHETT Support Group (BSG), Mrs Esther Emeka-Nwankpa said that General Dambazau’s assurance was good tonic to her members across the country who, according to her, were worried about the cases filed by presidential candidates of opposition political parties especially Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP).
“His (General Dambazau’s) assurance came as a soothing balm to the hearts of our members. We can take his words to the bank. We will continue to pray for the success of the Bola Tinubu-led government. Our hearts particularly go to the President-elect in his ongoing engagements with prospective investors in Europe. We believe God brought him at this time to restore, renew and rebuild peoples’ hope in our land. He will succeed because he is on a divine mission.
“We are already seeing the telltale signs of Nigeria’s renewed hope of prosperity. The President is a dogged fighter. No sparring partner can stand him in the ring as we have seen. We are sure he will apply the same spirit to get for our children and children’s children the lost glory of this nation. We are backing him up with our prayers’’, Mrs. Nwankpa said.
