President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, commenced a comprehensive re-jig of the Presidency with the prospects of an increase in the number of ministries.
Vanguard gathered that the reappraisal of the instruments of government which has been delegated to some of the President’s trusted aides was aimed at formulating a new organogram in the executive branch of government.
From left: Vice President Namadi Sambo; President Goodluck Jonathan; Alhaji Yakubu Tafawa Balewa; Hajia Hafsat Tafawa Balewa; and Alhaji Mukhtar Tafawa Balewa; during the courtesy visit by the family of the first Foreign Affairs Minister and Former Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa after whom the new Foreign Affairs Complex was named at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo:Abayomi Adeshida
The reappraisal committee comprising the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe; Principal Secretary to the President, Alhaji Hassan Tukur; and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Ima Niboro, among others met in the Presidential Villa yesterday.
Presidency sources said the committee which is also scheduled to meet Thursday, would review the impact the rejiging would have on the assignment of duties to the incoming ministers.
A source told Vanguard that the review might have been the reason for the delay in the announcement of the final list of ministerial nominees. He said: “There must be clear-cut duties for appointees before they are appointed in order to avoid duplication of functions.”
At the end of the review, the office of the Principal Secretary to the President will be scrapped and replaced with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff to be created soon; while the functions of SGF are now to be well spelt out to avoid a clash with the duties of any of the principal aides to the President.
The office of Principal Secretary to the President was created by the late President Umaru Yar‘Adua to take over duties of the Chief of Staff.
Major-General Mohammed Abdullahi (rtd.) served in that office for the eight years of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency and remained in that role at the onset of the Yar‘Adua administration. On his exit the office was scrapped and the duties of that office transferred to that of the Principal Secretary to the President who served in that office until the death of the former President when the office of Chief of Staff was resurrected and Chief Oghiadhome appointed to the office.
A highly placed Presidency source told Vanguard that rather than reduce the number of ministries, the ongoing restructuring may increase them.
It was gathered that the reason behind this was to ensure that cabinet members who are constitutionally appointed from each of the 36 states have equal opportunity to the performance of their individual assignments without necessarily playing “a vice minister role to another colleague”.
The source added that even when there are going to be ministers of state as the case may be, such office holders will be directly answerable to the president and not their fellow ministers. This is in realisation that in the last one decade, the issue of senior and junior minister has brought untold bitterness and bickering among ministers thereby slowing down the pace of development in the affected ministries.
There were indications, however, that not all those who were screened by the State Security Service, SSS, would eventually make the list of ministerial nominees to be sent to the National Assembly for approval early next week.
Vanguard was reliably informed that more than the expected number or size of the new cabinet was being sent to the SSS for screening in order to ensure that a single list of a full cabinet is forwarded to the National Assembly for approval.
It was learnt that already some of those so far screened may have been dropped by Aso Rock for one reason or another; while new ones were being forwarded for the ongoing security check.
Era of taking a bow is gone — senators
Meanwhile senators have emphasized that those nominated as ministers would be subjected to rigorous screening to determine their suitability for appointment as ministers.
A cross section of senators told Vanguard that in line with the commitment given by President Jonathan that his government would be one of reconstruction, those who are to assist him in the onerous responsibility must be ready for the task.
Senator Domingo Obende said: “The era of taking a bow and go is gone and gone for good. It is good to note that in the sixth Senate, ministerial nominees were subjected to rigorous screening and I believe that with Senator David Mark as Senate president, the practice would be sustained.”
He added: “Nigeria is set for reconstruction and it is only obvious that the drivers must be focused in their quest to reconstruct Nigeria and must bring their experience to bear. In the sixth Senate there were ministerial nominees that were turned down. If that trend is to be sustained coupled with the new crop of senators, the new ministers must be up to date. The era of bow and go which to me is like solidarity is gone and gone for ever. Whether they were in the Senate or House of Representatives, it does not matter. They must show that they are capable of creating values for the community.”
An ANPP senator who did not want to be quoted said: “We in the opposition party are determined to ensure that ministerial positions are not turned to job for the boys. For anybody to be confirmed by the Senate as minister, we must ensure that he is capable and must be seen to have discharged himself creditably during the screening. We will not allow kids glove treatment for any ministerial nominee no matter what the ruling party wants to bring to the country.”
Meanwhile, allocation of seats to senators is expected to be completed this week preparatory to the resumption of the senate next week.
While ranking senators and principal officers of the senate are expected to occupy the front seats of the senate, new members are expected to occupy the back seats in accordance with the ranking rules of the senate which gives preference to senators with more experience. Headline
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