The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has tasked the Presidential Aides on community engagement to ensure adequate feedback to the presidency on the happenings at the various zones in the country.
Akpabio gave this charge when the Forum of Senior Special Assistants to the President on Community Engagement paid him a courtesy call in his office on Tuesday.
The Senate President told the six Presidential Aides, representing each of the six geo-political zones of the country, to see themselves as Ambassadors of the Presidency at the various zones with responsibility to report back on the activities at the grassroots.
Akpabio said: “I think this is a very good interactive session. It’s also a good thing that after your appointment by Mr. President, you decided to show yourself to the representatives of the people.
“I will urge that after this engagement with the Senate, you should also do the same with the House of Representatives. It is an excellent idea.
“You are presidential representatives in the six geo-political zones of the country. This means that you are going to work very closely with us. Wherever we are doing anything, particularly on empowerment of the people, we will like you to be there. And you must also report back to the President.
“You must give a feedback to Mr. President. You must have a record of your engagement together with members of the Legislature, whether at the state level or at the national level.
“You are now like the eyes of the party. You are going to be in a position to look at what the ruling party is doing in the various zones and then, you report back to the President.
“You must also look at what the various parties are doing in the various zones. You don’t limit it to only the ruling party because, like in the Senate, we work across party lines.
“Even if it is APGA Senator that is doing empowerment in Aba or Umuahia, you must be there to see because it is all about touching the lives of the people. Once a President is elected, he is for all Political Parties and he is also for the generality of Nigerians.
“So you have a big task ahead of you which is giving feedback because if somebody is doing something good, even if it’s in another political party, you must report it to the President. And such a person requires commendation.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda is not only for the APC. The Renewed Hope Agenda is for all Nigerians. We are through with the elections. Now it is about governance.
“So anybody that does anything, any elected officer or appointed officer that does anything in your zone, that touches on the lives of Nigerians, it is your responsibility to give feedback to the President.
“So I urge you to bear that in mind that yours is to be a link between the grassroots and the Presidency irrespective of the political divide. That way, we will be able to keep tap on how we are empowering Nigerians. How we are educating Nigerians.
“Take the message of Mr President to the grassroots, on the student loans. Visit the various schools particularly the final year students in secondary schools and educate them on the student loans scheme.
“On the security situation, you also to keep an eye and report. If an area is peaceful, let us also know at the Federal level. If something is brewing, even if it is unrest, if there are state governments that are owing salaries, you should also let us know.
“If you sit down in Abuja, then you are not doing just, to the office. The President that appointed you expects you to be the Ambassador in your various zones and that means, if you are in any zone, irrespective of which party is ruling, you must give us feedback from their activities because at the end of the day, ours is to ensure that the entire Nigerian citizens are touched. We are not limiting it to any political party.”
He commended the President for the initiative of getting Senior Special Assistants to be in charge of nothing but community engagement.
The leader of the delegation, the Senior Special Assistant to the President for South West Zone, Moremi Ojudu said the visit of the Presidential Assistants on Community Engagement was to formally introduce the forum to the Senate leadership and seek their support.
Moremi said their appointments and their mandate showed that the Tinubu administration was focused at the very people at the grassroots which also tallied with a core objective of the Tenth Senate with regards to legislation.
