The Renewed Hope Ambassadors Forum (RHAF) has issued a warning to former Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi T. Gwarzo, to desist from making critical comments about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following his recent removal from office.
Gwarzo, along with four others, was dismissed from his role last month due to concerns about their effectiveness in advancing the Renewed Hope Agenda within their respective ministries.
Speaking to BBC Hausa Service on Saturday, Gwarzo claimed his removal was politically motivated, questioning President Tinubu’s choice to appoint Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Atta as his replacement.
He suggested that Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, the APC’s 2023 gubernatorial candidate in Kano State, would have been a more suitable candidate than Atta. Gwarzo also disclosed aspects of a private conversation with the President about his dismissal.
In response, RHAF condemned Gwarzo’s comments, characterizing them as disrespectful to both President Tinubu and the presidency, and argued that his statements demonstrated he was unsuitable for the ministerial role.
The forum’s Kano State Coordinator, Comrade Danjuma Usman Gwale, expressed disappointment that Gwarzo seemed to question Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution, which grants the President the authority to appoint and dismiss ministers.
“We viewed the BBC interview of the sacked Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi T. Gwarzo, as an insult and an attack on President Tinubu, who has the constitutional powers to appoint and dismiss ministers.”
“For someone who has served as a minister to disclose private conversations with the President publicly is not only unfortunate and ridiculous but also unbecoming of his status. It indicates that he cannot be trusted. This behaviour is an insult to both the President and the presidency. He should understand the implications of sharing confidential discussions with the media, particularly those involving the President. In the first place, he may not even be qualified to be a minister,” they said.
RHAF described Gwarzo’s interview as a calculated attempt to undermine the President, warning him to cease further attacks or face consequences.
“No dropped minister in the history of this country has ever ignorantly behaved like Gwarzo. The usual practice for those who are knowledgeable in the practice of democracy is to thank the President for giving them the opportunity to serve and then move on with their lives, just like the rest of the ministers recently dropped by President Tinubu did. But Gwarzo feels that his appointment as a minister was at his behest and not at the president’s behest as enshrined in our constitution. We believe that Gwarzo needs someone to lecture him appropriately in this regard.”
“His utterances are capable of undermining the President. Why is he now recommending Gawuna rather than doing so when he was nominated as a minister in 2023? He should have declined his nomination if he believed Gawuna was the right choice. We don’t know who told him that defeated APC gubernatorial candidates must be appointed ministers. His level of hypocrisy is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it,” they stated.
