Oil workers demand results as Tinubu heads petroleum ministry

 Oil workers demand results as Tinubu heads petroleum ministry

Oil workers have demanded results as President Bola Tinubu assigned the Petroleum Ministry portfolio to himself.

Like his predecessor, the President will head the petroleum ministry while a former Senator, Heineken Lokpobiri, is the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources.

The President on Wednesday unveiled the portfolios of 45 ministers nine days after they were confirmed by the Senate in a week-long screening exercise.

The ministers will be sworn in on by the President at the State House Conference, Aso villa, Abuja on Monday.

A statement on Wednesday by the Director, Information Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey said the ministers could attend the ceremony with two guests each.

The General Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Lumumba Okugbawa, said there was nothing wrong with the President occupying the position of petroleum minister.

He said, “All the ministers report to the President, so for him to hold the position of petroleum minister doesn’t really matter much. What we should demand is for him to perform. So it doesn’t really matter that he decided to hold that position.”

Okugbawa stated that former President Muhammadu Buhari occupied the same positions as President and petroleum minister, stressing that Tinubu could also handle the task.

“Since they’ve given somebody the position of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, it doesn’t matter that the President is the petroleum minister. By the way, all the ministers report to the President,” he stated.

‘End vandalism’

A petroleum expert, Bala Zaka, said the petroleum minister must address the menace of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

He also asked the government to formulate policies that would attract investments in the sector and consolidate full revitalisation of the industry in line with global practices.

He said, “The new minister must demonstrate indignation to make sure that crude oil thefts and pipeline vandalism is stopped immediately with the ultimate goal to improve oil production.

“He must put his foot firmly on the ground and make sure all these issues bedevilling the industry are solved. He must provide immediate solutions to these issues and formulate policies because investors are running away due to the country’s poor business climate.’’

Also  a maritime lawyer, Emeka Akabogu, said, “If he is competent enough to be the president of Nigeria, then he is competent to also be the petroleum minister. Whether the President is competent enough or not is of no consequence he is the appointer, he is the commander in chief so he has the prerogative of what to do and what not to do.’’

Akabogu, who is the Convener of the globally acclaimed OTL Africa Downstream, a leading initiative for downstream petroleum business in Africa, stated, stated, ‘’We can only hope that it is done effectively, we can only hope that the ministers of states that he has appointed are able to discharge their functions to the benefit of Nigerians.”

The list indicated that the President appointed 13 of the nominees as ministers of state and also created new ministries and renamed a few others.

However, the names of a former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-rufai, a former national women leader of the All Progressives Congress, Stella Okotete and a ministerial nominee from Taraba state, Danladi Abubakar were missing from the list.

The Senate had withheld their confirmation on account of objections and petitions filed against their nominations by some Nigerians, but the red chamber said the three ministerial nominees were referred to the security agencies for appropriate checks.

Following the development, El-Rufai reportedly withdrew his nomination and recommended a loyalist to the President as his replacement.

To preside over the ministry of works is former Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi while ex-Jigawa State governor, Muhammed Badaru was appointed as the Minister of Defence.