…..Ministers may not declare their assets
Ahead of the swearing in of the ministerial nominees following their successful screening and confirmation by the senate last week, the Presidency has denied releasing any list that assigned portfolios to them.
The denial followed the speculated list of portfolios which made the rounds especially on social media on Sunday.
Responding to Vanguard on the issue, the Special Adviser to President Mohammadu Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina said that the list did not emanate from the presidency as it was not officially signed.
“Any communication from the presidency must be officially singed. Was that list signed by me or Mr. Garba Shehu? Please, ignore it”, he said.
He also did not reveal when the inauguration ceremony of the Ministers would hold.
Meanwhile, the speculated portfolios go as follows:
Read Also:
Agric and Natural Resources Audu Ogbeh (Benue), Agriculture and Natural Resources, Geoffrey Onyema (Enugu), Attorney General, James Ocholi (Kogi), Aviation Sen Hadi Sirika (Katsina) ,Defense Abdulrahman Dambazau(Kano), Defence (State) Dan Ali (Zamfara), Education; Isaac Adewole (Osun) , FCT (State) Solomon Dalong (Plateau), Federal Capital Territory Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Niger), Finance; Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia) Finance (State) Kemi Adeosun (Ogun) , Foreign Affairs . Kayode Fayemi- (Ekiti), Foreign Affairs (State) Adamu Adamu (Bauchi) ,Health Osagie Ehanire (Edo) Information, Communication Technology Lai Mohammed (Kwara) , Interior Cladius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo) , Labour Prof Anthony Onwuka (Imo), Mines and Steel Development Abubakar Malami (Kebbi) , National Planning Amina Mohammed (Gombe), Niger Delta Affairs; Rotimi Amaechi Niger Delta Affairs (State) Pastor Usani Uguru (Cross River) , Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu (Delta), Police Affairs Chris Ngige (Anambra), Power Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) , Sports & Youth Development Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Trade and Investment Udo Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom)
Trade and Investment (State) Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna)
Women Affairs Hajia Khadija Bukar Ibrahim (Yobe), Works & Transport Ogbonaya Onu- (Ebonyi) Ogbonaya Onu- (Ebonyi), Works (State) Barr. Adebayo Shittu (Oyo)
Meanwhile, the new ministers to be inaugurated soon may not be compelled to publicly declare their assets as President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo did, presidency sources have disclosed.
Many of the ministers-designate were at the weekend wary of the issue as a number of them were miffed when they were asked on the issue.
The minister-designate from Nasarawa, Ibrahim Jibrin, who was the only one that was forthcoming on it, however, pledged to abide by whatever instruction was handed out by the presidency on the issue.
President Buhari and Vice-President Osinbajo had last August made a public declaration of their assets in line with a now contentious pledge given by one of the support groups of their presidential campaign.
That same support group had in their campaign material also affirmed that Buhari, if elected President, would not just make a public declaration of his assets, but would also require his appointees to do same.
A high ranking presidency official, asked yesterday if the presidency would require the ministers-designate to make public their declared assets, said the ministers to-be would not be subjected above constitutional requirements.
He said: “What does the law require? Whatever the law requires is what we expect them to be doing? Does the law require it?”
Reminded that the President went above the law, he said: “Well, that is the President on his own volition.”
However, in a written response to Vanguard, Jibrin, who noted that he believes in the present administration and its cardinal objective of zero tolerance for corruption, stressed that as a minister, he would join the President to pursue this and ensure that it was achieved for the country.
The minister-designate said that if President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo could declare their assets, what would stop him as one of those that will drive the manifesto from declaring his assets too.
