The Abudu gate of the Dagbon Traditional Area has called for the immediate removal from office of the Northern Regional Minister, Stephen Sumani Nayina. It said the minister could not be trusted to do an honest brokerage of peace in the volatile region. The call of the Abudus follows the renovation of the sacred room of the disputed Gbewaa Palace by an elder of the Andani gate at the weekend. The renovation was undertaken Sunday, May 17, 2009, under intense security. Reports from the area indicated the provision of security for the exercise was at the behest of the Northern Regional Security Council of which Mr. Nayina is the Chairman. The action, the Abudus contend, was in clear violation of the roadmap to peace designed under the supervision of the Committee of Eminent Chiefs led by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II which is mediating the dispute between the Abudus and the Andanis. The Roadmap to Peace indicates that neither the Abudus nor the Andanis should have access to the Gbewaa Palace in the crisis period. The Youth Chairman of the Abudus, Dr. Ziblim Iddi, told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoe after addressing a press on the matter that the fact that the renovation was carried out under the instructions of Mr. Sumani Nayina compromises his position as a neutral person. He said earlier actions by the minister had indicated his bias against the Abudus. “Early on this year, after his (Nayina’s) assumption of office, he initiated the banning of the Abudus from (celebrating) the Damba festival in Yendi. “The Regional Minister did not stop there, he went ahead to make certain pronouncements that were above his authority in terms of who has traditional authority in Dagbon,” Dr Iddi explained. Given the implications of the minister’s actions, he said, it was right for the Abudu family to declare their lack of confidence in him. “We have lost confidence in his leadership, we don’t trust him as an honest broker, and we think that it will be in the interest of Dagbon and for that matter the Northern Region if President J.E.A. Mills reassigns him,” Dr Ziblim Iddi stated. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com