In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said President Jonathan was not in a hurry to make replacements for Bello and Nnaji because the two ministers of state for power and defence were performing. Abati added that the absence of the substantive ministers had not created any vacuum in the running of the affairs of the two critical ministries.
Prior to Abati’s clarifications, there were growing speculations in both official and unofficial quarters that President Jonathan might carry out a major cabinet shake-up in January next year because of the persistent misgivings of Nigerians over the performance of most of his ministers.
These speculations were fuelled by an emergency FEC meeting, which the President summoned penultimate Tuesday, but later cancelled. It was alleged that Jonathan’s action caused panic among the ministers.
While Dr. Abati agreed that some clarifications needed to be done so that Nigerians would not be misinformed and misled, he however said “there was no reason for any minister to panic about the emergency FEC that you referred to. I just told you that the last few meetings in the end of the year were devoted to a performance review.
As at two weeks ago, some ministers had already done their own presentations: The ministers of agriculture, aviation, communication technology and a roster was drawn up, all the way till January for different ministries and their ministers to make presentation based on what I defined earlier: to tell us what they were able to do, how much they got and what challenges they faced. During that presentation, it will be discussed by the entire cabinet. Other ministers will give suggestions.
“President Jonathan made it clear when he said that performance assessment was necessary for two reasons: one, to carry out an audit-a clear review if you like - of what each ministry has been doing; and two, to make government open, to create a necessary pool of knowledge within government about how government is operating in different departments and agencies.
In other words, if you are minister in charge of portfolio D, whatever you are doing is not hidden from the minister in charge of portfolio F because on a regular basis, Council (FEC) will meet and give you an opportunity to report what you are doing. So, there is no room for anybody trying to run a one man show. It is team work and I think that that strategic approach to governance is very important.”
Abati continued: “So, all the ministers who were to come to that emergency meeting knew that that it was called so that those who could not make their presentation at the last Wednesday meeting and who had been scheduled on the roster could then do so. But then you know as it turned out there was a case of serendipity.
There was the helicopter accident and there were several developments in the country; the whole country was in a very sad mood and even the Wednesday meeting that followed that particular Tuesday was devoted to the praying and mourning of the six that died in that helicopter crash. And after the tribute session and the statements, the president asked Council to adjourn to January 9.So, that is that.”
On the appointment of ministers of defence and power, Abati said it was erroneous to think that because of the absence of substantive ministers, there was a vacuum in the affected ministries.
According to him, President Jonathan was taking his time on the appointment of the ministers because it goes beyond filling the quota of certain states.
Abati said: “The thing to note is that when people ask that question, they give the impression that maybe because those two ministries do not have substantive ministers yet, there is a vacuum. But the truth is that there is no vacuum in the real sense because the ministers of state that are there are running those ministries well.
If there is any vacuum that people are looking for, they are probably saying certain states are to get those positions or the quota and they want it filled so that those states can benefit. All of that is coming out of our federal character approach to appointments. But in terms of the functioning of these ministries, nothing has been lost and nothing has been sacrificed.
But I can assure you that the president in his own time will fill those positions because it is not just that you fill positions. A lot goes into it. I have not had the opportunity to appoint anybody, but from watching the president at work, I know that you don’t just wake up and appoint people into offices.
There is a lot that goes into it and once the time is ripe, you can be assured that the president will do it. So, people should stop putting him under pressure.
“Those ministries are functioning. If you look at power, since the minister of state for power took over, that ministry has been functioning. In fact, progress has even been made. If you look at defence, the woman who is there has been running the ministry very well. So, it is not as if because two slots have not been filled that anything has happened and in any case, people must also realise that ministerial positions are delegated positions.
Under a presidential system, all authorities draw from the top, at least within the executive branch. So, the president delegates authority to ministers and he can delegate authority to whoever he so wishes for the smooth running of government because he is both head of state and head of government.”
The Ministry of Defence is manned by Mrs. Olusola Obada while that of power is under the supervision of Hajia Zainab Kuchi. Nnaji’s former minister of state, Mr. Gauis Dickson acted in his stead but a minor cabinet reshuffle by President Jonathan saw Dickson and Kuchi, who was the minister of state in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
There are, however, claims in government quarters that the apparent failure of the president to appoint a defence minister might have been a strategy to bring the security ball gazer directly under his watch. Other sources alleged that President Jonathan wants to appoint a defence minister outside Kebbi State and the North West zone where Bello hails from.
In fact, the sources averred that the president whenever he is ready might name a retired senior military officer from the South East as defence minister and pick the minister of power from the North West.
But some opposition political parties have said the president’s reluctance to fill the vacant ministerial posts “is symptomatic of an administration not willing to move the country towards progress.”
The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that the action of the presidency was its usual way of addressing serious issues with levity, adding that there was no reason for any Nigerian to lose sleep because the present ministers were not working.
The National Publicity Secretary of CPC, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, stated that the seeming reluctance is symptomatic of the current government’s “knee jack” approach to governance, which he noted had permeated all facets of the country’s life since the Jonathan administration came on board.
ACN’s National Publicity, Alhaji LaI Mohammed, could not be reached, but a key leader of the party said though the party was not disposed to getting involved in the controversy arising from the issues relating to the vacuum, he however counselled that the government should make a recourse to the country’s constitution to guide it on the matter.
The ACN chief also stated that the absence of these ministers had not been noticeable, those that have been in office had not even made their presence felt through quality service delivery to the people.
On the people of Enugu State’s endless wait for the president to appoint a minister from the state, a top official of the state government told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that “we are awaiting the Federal Government to appoint a representative from the state in FEC following the resignation of Prof. Nnaji as minister of power.”
The official, who sought anonymity said that the “state government had since recommended a replacement to President Jonathan,” adding that “the president may be waiting for an appropriate time to send the nominee to the National Assembly for confirmation.”
In the case of Kebbi State, the state government may have missed the window of opportunity presented it by the president when the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the nomination of Gen. Bitrus Ushe as defence minister. Since then, the presidency has kept mute on the matter.
In the heat of the opposition to Ushe’s nomination, Alhaji Mansur Shehu Dangaladima, the PDP chairman in Kebbi State, had told journalists that the nominee was rejected by the party because he is not a native of the state and a member of the PDP.
According to him, “we don’t know him (Ushe) in the state and in the party. It was shocking to us when we discovered that Gen. Ushe is from Niger State. His colleagues in the military have affirmed that he hails from Niger State not Kebbi State.”
Leadership
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