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Adeniyi
said, “He (Yar’Adua) laughs about it (perception) because it is not
true. I am sure you know about power. How do you imagine that the
President of Nigeria will be controlled by anybody elsewhere?
“Obasanjo was at a time a President. I don‘t know if anybody controlled
him. So I wonder why Yar‘Adua will sit down here, knowing that he is not
only responsible to Nigerians, and then allow someone else to dictate to
him. He knows that he will be held accountable at the end of his
stewardship.
“Nobody is going to query Obasanjo for whatever happened between May 29,
2007 and May 28 or 29, 2011. For whatever happens in Nigeria, Yar‘Adua
will be held responsible.
“So, I wonder why he will allow Obasanjo to take over. He reads all
these things (newspaper reports) like we all read them here. He just
smiles about them. They mean nothing.”
The SA also explained the seeming delay in the implementation of the
emergency intervention in the power sector. He pointed out that the
President was currently holding consultations with all the stakeholders
in order to come up with a holistic intervention programme. Adeniyi
said, ”He has met several times with the top officials of the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria and the Bureau of Public Enterprises.
“He has met several times with the officials of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation. When you look at most of these issues, you will
find out that they are issues you need to sort out with one agency or
the other.
“All the stakeholders within the sector are being brought into the
picture so that he can have a holistic picture of the problems in the
power sector. There will be no excuse for failure after all these issues
have been sorted out.
“I think that is what is going on now. Very soon, within the next two or
three weeks, I think, he will come up with his plans for the power
sector. Same goes for the Niger Delta.”
Meanwhile, the President on Wednesday appointed Mrs.Okeke as the new
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. Okeke replaces Alhaji
Yayale Ahmed, now a ministerial nominee. A statement by Adeniyi
explained that Okeke‘s appointment was with immediate effect.
The statement further announced the retention of Senator Florence
Ita-Giwa as Yar’Adua’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters.
Ita-Giwa‘s appointment took effect from June 3, 2007.
Dr. Tanimu Kurfi was also named as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the
President. Kurfi will assume duties upon his disengagement from the
Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
Yar'Adua
appoints Okeke first female Head of Service
By Ben Agande & Chinyere Amalu
Vanguard Thursday, July 12, 2007
ABUJA— THE Permanent Secretary, in charge of Federal Water Projects,
Mrs. Ebele Ofunne Okeke, emerged yesterday the first female Head of
Service of the Federation.
Her appointment was one of the several announced by the Presidency,
the others being those of Dr. Taminu Kurfi as Deputy Chief of Staff
to the president, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo as Managing Director of the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the retention of Senator Florence
Ita-Giwa as Presidential Special Adviser on National Assembly
Matters.
Mr. Okeke hails from Nnewi, Anambra State and holds a Bachelor’s
degrees in civil engineering from the University of Southampton, UK.
She also did post graduate programmes in Water Resources Management
from the University of Loughborough and the University of London.
This is in addition to an MBA from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
She is taking over from Alhaji Yayale Ahmad who has been nominated
for ministerial appointment. Dr. Kurfi was until yesterday, the
Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMBN). He was the
pioneer Commissioner of Finance in the eight-year administration of
Umaru Yar’Adua as Governor of Katsina State, played a key role
during the recent negotiation between the Federal Government with
the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). His appointment, however, takes
effect as soon as he resigns from the FMBN.
Kurfi is expected to work with the incumbent Chief of Staff (COS) to
the President, Major General Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd), to afford him
the opportunity of learning the ropes before he eventually takes
full responsibility as the substantive COS. The appointment of
Senator Ita-Giwa takes effect from June 3, 2007.
FG appoints Remi Oyo NAN MD
The appointment of Mrs Oyo as MD of NAN was conveyed to her in a
July 10, 2007 letter signed by the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Babagana Kingibe. In the letter, the
SGF said the appointment took “effect from the date you assume
duty.”
It said: “I am pleased to inform you that the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, has approved
your appointment as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of
the News Agency of Nigeria. Your appointment is a reflection of the
President’s confidence and trust in you to undertake your new
responsibilities diligently and with distinction.”
This expectation, the letter said, was due to her proven competence
and “performance in many other capacities in which you served
before.”
Oyo, a seasoned journalist, started her career as a reporter at the
FRCN. She later moved to NAN where she rose to the post of Desk
Editor before being employed by the Third World News Agency,
Inter-Press Service (IPS), as head of its Nigeria bureau.
While at the IPS, Oyo was elected President of the Nigerian Guild of
Editors (NGE), from where she was appointed Senior Special Assistant
on Media to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 2003. Mrs
Oluremi Oyo is married with two children.
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I’m
in charge, not Obasanjo – Yar’Adua