Nigerians have expressed delight at the portfolios President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assigned to 47 ministers-designate.
They said with the delineated duties of the yet-to-be inaugurated ministers, President Tinubu has shown that his government was ready to make a significant impact in the country.
President Tinubu, on Wednesday, made public the ministry each minister-designate would man.
Edun as finance minister good for economy, says Amb Oluwafemi
The Managing Director of African Development Study Centre (ADSC), Amb. Victor Oluwafemi, has said President Bola Tinubu’s choice of a seasoned economist, as Finance Minister and Coordinator of the Economy will help to transform Nigeria’s economy within a short period of time.
Speaking at a roundtable on the state of the Nigerian economy with business associates in Abuja yesterday, Amb Oluwafemi said: “The capabilities of Wale Edun, who within eight years transformed the economy of Lagos in active collaboration with the then governor of Lagos, Tinubu and his World Bank accomplishments is definitely a sound choice.
“Wale Edun as a minister of finance definitely has all it takes to help galvanize the Nigerian economy to greater heights.
Agbakoba: Marine, Blue Economy ministry can generate N7tr
Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has praised President Bola Tinubu for creating a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, saying Nigeria can make N7 trillion from it.
Agbakoba, in a statement yesterday, expressed “perfect delight that after 30 years of advocacy on major maritime policy, finally a minister for marine and blue economy has been named.”
In his view, the maritime sector had been “a distinctly ignored sector of our economy”, saying that had been a major omission.
Agbakoba added: “Nigeria is a maritime nation and must advance policy issues to tap into the absolutely massive economic opportunities.
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Portfolios excite Amadi
Dr. Sam Amadi Tinubu’s team has done well with the portfolios to the ministers-designates.
“I think the President has done a good job with the portfolios assigned. The team did a good job in placing the ministers-designates.
“One of the best is David Umahi for works, though I am one of his critics in terms of public leadership, yet, Umahi is good in infrastructure, in project development, which has shown in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. Umahi is coming with the high pedigree in project delivery and he will deliver.
Okorie okays portfolios
A chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie has commended President Tinubu for doing things differently by allocating portfolios to the minister-designates before they are sworn in.
He said: “This will give Nigerians the opportunity to comment; not that it will change much but at least he will get feedback before they are sworn in on Monday.
Okorie, who is the founding national chairman of APGA, said some of the incoming ministers have been put in ministries where he believes they will do well. His words: “Making Dave Umahi the minister of works, for instance, is a good move. For me, it is putting a round peg in a round hole. He is a civil engineer by profession. Besides, he carried out what I will call a miraculous transformation of Ebonyi State.
Bwala hails Fagbemi, others’ choices
Dan Bwala, former spokesman of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council, said Lateef Fagbemi as the next attorney general was a good one. “This is somebody I have known, who has a stealer career and has not been involved in politics, despite his huge achievement in legal practice.
“And giving that goal as the attorney general will only give him a greater burden to perform knowing his background and history, character, legacy so much so that he will concentrate on policy and not politics.
“I also agree with people like Wale Edun, who has a history of good record. Everyone believes that he is an economist, who is coming in with an enviable resume.
MOSIEND lauds President over Niger Delta ministers-designate
A group, the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), has hailed the President for the ministers-designate from the region.
MOSIEND, in a statement by its National President, Comrade Kennedy Tonjo West, said the move was in order.
West described their appointments as square peg in square hole, noting that those given the mandates to represent the states in the region are seasoned technocrats and consummate politicians who had made their marks in previous national assignments and undertakings.
Group lauds Tinubu on ministers, backs Okotete’s rejection
A civic group, Consortium of South-South Amazons (CSA) has lauded President Bola Tinubu’s choice of individuals for ministerial positions.
The group said the President picked round pegs for round holes, judging by the portfolios assigned to the newly appointed cabinet Ministers.
The Delta based group however said its members and indeed the people of Delta State have no objections to the rejection of one of the nominees from the state, Mrs. Stella Okotete.
In a letter addressed to the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the CSA said it would be an affront to question the rejection of Okotete based on the reasons for which she was rejected.
Group urges Tinubu to end marginalisation of Itsekiri
A coalition of 121 civil society organisations and community-based groups, under the aegis of the Nigerian Human Rights Community (NIHRCO), has called the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to what it described as the exclusion of the Itsekiri ethnic nationality from political appointments since independence in 1960.
The group made the observation at a press conference in Lagos yesterday jointly addressed by three of its executives, Tunde Adeleke, Are Kunle Oshodi and Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh.
In the statement, the group said though Itsekiri is small in population, it is strategic “in terms of its profound contributions to the Nigerian economy with oil output in the range of over $60 million per day to the national purse.”
ACCER chief backs Tinubu on portfolios
Nosa Osaikhuiwu, the Executive Director of the African Council for Cultural and Economic Renaissance (ACCER), also agrees that the choice of former Gov. Nyesom Wike as FCT minister is spot on.
He said: “He will restore some sanity to that ministry. He would have also been perfect in works or power to transform the president’s agenda into reality in those ministries.
“The president’s choice of former Gov. Umahi for works and Wale Edun for finance are outstanding given the overall importance of these ministries in the lives of our people.”
‘Bring refineries back to life, end oil theft, others’
A public analyst, Mayowa Sodipo, noted that as a matter of urgency, Heineken Lokpobiri must ensure that the country’s moribund refineries come back to life in the shortest possible time. He maintained that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, must key into the vision of the President for the Port Harcourt refinery’s renovation completion date fixed for December. This, he further explained, will ensure that petrol is refined locally and thereby ease the rising cost of the commodity and by extension, bring relief to Nigerians.
In similar vein, he said Ekpo should explore means of actualizing the ‘Decade of Gas’ initiative, while also working assiduously to pursue the Trans-Sahara Gas pipeline project, including that of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.
Tijani’s pick excites IT stakeholders
Stakeholders in the Information Technology (IT) industry have praised the choice of Mr. Bosun Tijani as Communications and Digital Economy Minister by President Bola Tinubu.
The IT stakeholders, acting under the aegis of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), expressed gratitude to the president for choosing an IT professional and not a lawyer or an English tutor.
Its Prof Adesina Sodiya, said though the group would have been happier if one of their registered members had been picked by the president, he nonetheless said Tijani is a practitioner and knowledgeable about the industry.
‘Agric ministers will drive food security’
National President, Federation of Agro Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN) Dr. Victor Iyama believes the appointment of Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari and Aliyu Abdullahi as Minister of State would help the President fix the country’s food crisis.
According to him, Kyari’s background as an agric-economist and the Minister of State as a veterinary doctor will provide the required capacity to drive the government’s food security plan.
Report by: Emmanuel Oladesu; Raymond Mordi; By Muyiwa Lucas; Lucas Ajanaku; Emmanuel Badejo; Kelvin Osa Okunbor; Gbade Ogunwale; Daniel Essiet; Simon Utebor and Robert Egbe