Those calling for the head of SGF are enemies of one Nigeria -Youth Group

A youth based forum under the umbrella of Middle Belt Christian Youth Vanguard (MBCYV) has described as "enemies of Nigeria", those who have been drumming for the removal of Mr. David Lawal Babachir as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Babachir Lawal

Rising from its 2-day emergency meeting in Abuja on Sunday, the group, through its communiqué, condemned the call from some quarters, that President Buhari should sack the SGF, adding that those behind the move have ulterior motives.

According to the group, "the position of President Muhammadu Buhari on the allegation against Babachir is very clear. The SGF is an appointee of the President and it is his discretion to carry out investigation on the said contract, not the Senate dictating how he would run his government".

The communiqué which was signed by the National President, Rev. Williams Choji; Secretary, Barr. Akor Richson Ikwuoche and the PRO, Habila Y. Suleiman; also aleged that, "the Adhoc Committee report which indicted Mr. Babachir was stage-managed to structurally edge him out of office, to pave way for a Muslim candidate, who we gathered has been warming up".

"This is very sad! It's noteworthy that, the SGF is the second highest political office that a Christian middle beltan is currently holding in Nigeria, now they want to use the instrumentality of legislative oversight to rob Christians of that exalted position.

"It's very unfortunate that, some people could be working against the unity and corporate coexistence of Nigerian people,"the group added.

While stressing on the weakness of the Senate Adhoc Committee report, the group acknowledged that, the report was not the popular opinion of the Senate as, "even at the committee level, it was only 3 Senators that signed it, out of 9 members of the committee".

The youth Vanguard also revealed that, a coalition of civil society organisations which visited the IDPs camps in the North-East and carried out independent investigation, "had also submitted that, most of the claims by the Senate Adhoc Committee were 'unfortunate lies' and, that clearly shows the indices of many undertones in the report".

The group said that "the SGF, in all sense of sincerity, is a man of integrity and that was why he resigned from Rheolavision Engineering Company and all other companies he was a member in August 2015, before he was appointed into that office.

"Mr. Babachir is not only a committed Christian, but he has also taught the principles of the word of God in many churches; he is a man that practises what he preaches".

While appreciating the anti-corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buhari, the group cautioned that nobody or group of persons should tie personal or political vendetta to the anti-corruption mechanism of President Buhari.

The group also used the forum to pray for the quick recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari and advised those peddling rumours of death on the President to desist forthwith.

"As Christians, the bible admonishes us on how to respect the people in authority and also pray for them. We must, therefore, learn to respect the office of the President and also pray for his successful tenure in office," the group added.