There is nothing wrong in Buhari becoming petroleum minister – Nwaogu

As opposition continue to mount against the possible emergence of President Mohammadu Buhari as the petroleum minister, former minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Nwaogu has dismissed the argument, saying that there is nothing wrong for him to spearhead the ministry if he so wishes.

Buhari-oil

The former minister made the position known yesterday during an interview with vanguard in Abuja at the ongoing 8^th edition of herbs, health foods and natural products exhibition holding in Abuja.
He noted that the executive powers belong to the President, and as such can share same between himself, the Vice President and all ministers he appointed into his cabinet and urged his critics to tread with caution.
Nwaogu, who expressed confidence in President’s ability to supervise the ministry in a most efficient manner, said there was no need for people to rely on speculations since the President had not made the intention known to the public but insisted that there was nothing wrong for him to be Petroleum Minister, going by his wealth of experience in the sector.
‘‘You know that the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria is a powerful President, and any decision he has taken must be in the interest of the country. The executive powers belong to him, which he can share between himself and Vice President and ministers he has appointed into cabinet.
‘‘So, the assignment of duties is the exclusive responsibility of Mr. President. I didn’t hear him first hand say it, it’s a speculation on the newspaper, but there is nothing wrong for him to be Petroleum Minister.
‘‘All the ministries are under his supervision, but if he wants to pay particular attention to a particular ministry because there is so much attention to it, no problem to it because Nigeria is a mono product economy and it comes from crude oil.
‘‘It is also noteworthy that the President has requisite experience from the past, having been minister of petroleum and having also been involved in the utilization of the gains of Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF.’’
”For me, he is as well minister for all ministries. Do you realize that the President is as well the minister of the FCT?,  the FCT minister is also acting on delegated powers on behalf of Mr. President.
‘‘The President is equality the Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity. This President or any President in the country, past or incoming will be the minister for all ministries because he is the person in charge of all ministries at the end of the day and the ball stops in his court.’’
The former Minister however, called on Nigerians to give the President all the needed support to attain positive goals.
‘‘What we need to do is to support the current government of Buhari to achieve the milestones he set for himself and consolidation of other policies that emanated from the previous administration, including the immediate past administration for continuity in governance,’’ he  said.