Buhari won't be Petroleum Minister - Special Adviser

President Muhammadu Buhari would not occupy the position of Petroleum Minister as earlier reported, he would rather play supervisory role over the sector that is seen as fraught with corruption and mismanagement.


This was disclosed by the President's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina. He took to social media platform, twitter; to dispel the earlier reports that the president would assume ministerial responsibilities.

"President Buhari is not going to be designated as Minister but will supervise the Ministry...he has all it takes to supervise the ministry," Adesina tweeted.

Addressing the issue of the 21-man ministerial list before the senate, Adesina further tweeted; "President Buhari would respect the constitution. And the constitution says Ministers must be appointed from each state."

Nigerians were divided on reports that the president wanted to be Petroleum Minister. Buhari as promised presented his first ministerial list of 21 nominees to the Senate on the last day of last month, September 30, 2015.

Some political watchers have said that, it took the insistence of some Senators that Buhari be vetted if he wanted to become Minister to lead him to back down on an earlier report that had gained wide circulation and publicity.

Vetting by the Senate committee is expected to start tomorrow October 13; the president is expected to send a subsequent list of nominees to the Senate this week.