The Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President on Stakeholders’ Engagement and Mobilization, Mr. Femi Odere, has urged the APC Faithfuls to make it their sacred duty to defend the government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
This appeal was made when a group of APC Southwest Forum, FCT Chapter, paid a courtesy visit to the aide of the Senate President in his office in Abuja on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.
The group led by their Chairman Hon. Olusola Odekunle, said the courtesy visit became imperative to congratulate Mr. Femi Odere on his well-deserved appointment, having distinguished himself during the presidential campaign for now President Tinubu and the bid for the Senate President of Godswill Akpabio, now his principal, as well as intimate him with what they perceive as their marginalization in the scheme of things since the general elections.
“Sir, we must tell you without any equivocation that our chapter worked assiduously for the emergence of President Tinubu. The votes recorded for the president in the FCT in the last presidential election were majorly from the voters of Southwest extraction, however, none of our members has been considered for appointment in the FCT government structure,” the chairman said.
“We have been told that you are very accessible and always willing to lend a helping hand. We feel strongly that with your position in the Office of the Senate President, you can facilitate appointment for some of us and employment for our young ones in this city,” he added.
In his response, Odere said he was happy to bring the office of the Senate President close to the people, as it is his duty to interface with the different stakeholders in the polity to understand their concerns and aspirations, with the aim of recommending policy and legislative decisions to his principal. Meanwhile, he encouraged them that it is also important that as party loyalists, they ensure that their first duty is to stand at the barricade in defense of this government.
“Yes, it’s not a good feeling to have worked and there doesn’t seem to be anything to show for your hard work, especially in these trying times. But I want you to know that you’re not alone. There are thousands out there who are in your shoes,” Odere said.
The aide to the President of the Senate said that although he’s acutely aware that the members of the public, who are going through the present but temporary hardships, are not interested in the niceties of policy decisions and their gestation period, he opined that President Tinubu has little or no blame in our current national economic predicament.
“Let’s face it, what Emefiele alone did was enough to collapse this country, not to talk about the reckless, if not criminal economic mismanagement of the previous government. These are the serious issues people should know,” he said.
He said the president and the National Assembly under the leadership of His Excellency Senator Godswill Akpabio, are working round the clock to turn the present misfortune into a sustainable economic fortune in due time.
A letter appointing the aide of the Senate President as the Patron of the APC Southwest Forum, FCT Chapter was subsequently presented to him.
