RAMADAN, 16 1429 A.H.
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2008
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Yar'adua ‘ll reshuffle cabinet... Adeniyi re-affirms
Still smarting from the acclaimed rationalisation and restructuring of federal ministries, President Umaru Musa Yar'adua is set to reshuffle his cabinet to meet new challenges.
``It stands to reason that there will be a reshuffle because the existing structure has changed such that there are some ministers who currently have no ministry,'' Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Special Adviser to the President on Communication, said Sunday in Abuja.
Adeniyi told state house correspondents that the reshuffle had become more expedient with the change in the structure of the Federal Executive Council, which he said, had left some ministers with no portfolios and some ministries without ministers.
He said that the president had held Saturday sessions with all the ministers, permanent secretaries, directors and heads of departments to defend government policies and programmes.
The presidential spokesman said that the president spent as much as five hours with some of the ministers, adding that he now had first hand knowledge of their abilities and capabilities.
``I can assure you that by now, he knows the strength and weaknesses of everyone of them (ministers),'' Adeniyi said.
He said that the reshuffle could have taken place at the inception of the administration because some people noticed pitfalls in operational effectiveness but that it had to be suspended.
``The president decided that there was no point discarding an idea that had not been tested, arguing that if it ended up not working, as it has now happened, there would be useful lessons to learn,'' he explained.
Adeniyi said that once the reshuffle was concluded, the president would give the ministers specific targets and timelines for delivery, saying that the period would range from one year to two-and-a-half years.
``For the Ministry of Works, for instance, there are some roads the president wants delivered through Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model before the end of his administration,'' he said.
He listed some of the roads as the Lagos-Badagry express road, Lagos-Ibadan express road, Benin-Ore-Shagamu express road, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano express road, among others.
He said that roads that were not economically viable would be entirely handled by the Federal Government.
``The president has a programme of action with timelines and deliverables on these roads which means whoever is handed the works ministry has his work cut out for him,'' Adeniyi pointed out.
He said that the person to handle the new power portfolio should be able to deliver 6,000 megawatts by the end of next year and 10,000 megawatts by the end of 2010 because the president was determined to achieve the targets.
Adeniyi said that the president had confidence that the power situation in the country would stabilise during his tenure as the situation was already improving gradually.
On the petroleum sector, he said the ministers to handle it already had a template in the Petroleum Industry Bill which they must see through in the National Assembly and then implement, adding that their mandate would also include the establishment of a National Gas Grid.
The spokesman said that the Niger Delta Ministry would effectively tackle the challenge of the region in terms of infrastructure, environmental degradation and human development, pointing out that the security aspect was being taken up at the on-going discussion with the British government.
He explained that part of the discussion with the British government was the proposal for a maritime institute to train personnel for effective security in the region.
The intention, according to him, is for Nigeria to become the hub in the Gulf of Guinea, a development that would necessitate collaboration among the ministries of Niger Delta, interior and defence.
Adeniyi raised hopes that the country was entering the exciting time which Yar'adua promised Nigerians on May 29 this year, during his first anniversary broadcast.
He also talked about other areas like land reforms on which he said the president had received the invaluable contributions of Prof. Akin Mabogunje, with whom he had several meetings.
``I understand the bill is ready and I suppose that will form the kernel of legislative agenda that will not only revolutionalise land ownership, but will impact greatly on agriculture, home ownership and wealth creation,'' he added.
