President Muhammadu Buhari has been called upon not to approve any study leave or whatever kind of leave for any officer critical to the take-off of the incoming administration of Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Also, he said President Buhari should not approve foreign postings or grant any foreign travel for any officer at any level in the outgoing government who may be critical or strategic to the smooth take-off of the incoming government.
The outgoing Governor of Zamfara State, Muhammad Bello Matawalle made the plea on Monday in a statement he personally signed.
According to the governor, who was reacting to the rumoured study leave by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, people are hiding under the guise of such leave to truncate a smooth transition of this administration to the next one on May 29, 2023.
The statement said “One of such persons who has been speculated in the media to have sought a study leave is the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Matawalle asked President Buhari to cancel the leave being reported in the media, adding that “the President should cancel it in the interest of peaceful transfer of power, accountability and good governance.”
The governor recalled that Emefiele superintended over the management of the country’s financial and monetary systems, adding that “the CBN initiated and implemented the recent disastrous Naira swap policy, the Naira confiscation program, which put Nigerians through untold woes and trauma and set our economy backwards.
According to Governor Matawalle, “Two of my brother-governors and I took the Federal Government to court over this ill-advised policy and fought resolutely until we got a respite for our people from Emefiele and company.
“This same Emefiele now wants to proceed on study leave when he has some 10 months left of his tenure apparently in a bid to evade rendering accounts. This is unacceptable. President Buhari should not countenance this.
“Emefiele must stay at his job to give full accounts of all that transpired under his watch to the incoming administration. He must answer all the questions the new regime may have for him particularly when he still has some months left of his tenure.
Matawalle praised President Buhari, saying the president made remarkable achievements as he kept faith with Nigeria.
“Buhari has demonstrated that he is a patriot, democrat and a man of impeccable integrity and character. Perhaps more than ever before, this has been on display even in the twilight of his administration. President Buhari has about two weeks left of his eventful tenure,” Matawalle said
He said President Buhari and his wife Aisha have shown good faith and shown they want a seamless orderly and peaceful transfer of power to the incoming administration. They are eager to ensure that the new regime takes off smoothly and speedily and in a manner devoid of any encumbrance in the interest of our country. This is the right thing to do and I commend President Buhari and his wife for their statesmanship.
Matawalle, however, lamented that some officers in government have acted in a different manner and “were behaving as if they want to put spanners in the work for the incoming regime.
“President Buhari should not allow this. He should frown on any attempt by any person seeking to damage the good job he has done
Matawalle who revealed that some officers in the outgoing government are moving to surreptitiously leave the country at this critical time they are needed to answer specific questions, said the President should not heed their inordinate and unpatriotic plan.
“These plans are dangerous and devilish. They show clearly that these officers have something to hide. This must be halted immediately. Any plan to evade rendering accounts is neither in the interest of accountability, transparency and anti-corruption, which President Buhari had championed in government, nor in the interest of an unencumbered take-off of the incoming administration.
“It’s also not in the interest of the country, which the president has always promoted and championed. This is my appeal and why I have decided to speak out as a patriotic Nigerian and concerned governor,” he said.
