Tinubu tells ministers to be focused as Edun backs FX, subsidy reforms
• We’ll earn back public trust, Yilwatda assures
President Bola Tinubu has reminded his new ministers that they will be abused and criticised but urged them to remain focused and resilient. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, said the Federal Government would leave no stone unturned in earning back the trust of Nigerians in the ministry by automating all poverty intervention processes to ensure transparency. He stated this, yesterday, while formally assuming duty at the ministry after their inauguration.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the Tinubu administration’s reforms in the forex and oil and gas sectors have come to stay.
The seven, who took oath of office at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, include Dr Nentawe Yilwatda (Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction), Muhammadu Dingyadi (Minister of Labour and Employment) and Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs).
Others are Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment), Idi Maiha (Minister of Livestock Development), Yusuf Ata (Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development) and Dr Suwaiba Ahmad (Minister of State, Education).
Tinubu commended the new members of his cabinet for accepting to serve the country, especially as his administration faces myriad challenges requiring all hands on deck to salvage it.
Addressing the ministers at the occasion witnessed by Vice President Kashim Shettima and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, among other guests, the Tinubu said they “were called upon to join the team to rescue this country.”
The President said his administration halted the activities of scavengers of the commonwealth and is on the verge of completely doing the same to profiteers and smugglers across the country. He acknowledged that the cost of living had gone up but added that “the prevailing situation calls for a serious commitment” by all Nigerians.
Tinubu vowed that his administration would not run away from challenges and responsibilities, assuring that his government was poised to tackle them head-on. He commended the National Assembly for diligently and expeditiously living up to expectations by performing its constitutional duty of screening and confirming the ministers on record time.
While congratulating the seven new ministers, the President said: “The moment is challenging, the present situation calls for a very serious commitment. Yours is a duty to serve and that is what you’ve got to do.”
The President recalled when the country was servicing its debt with 97 per cent of its revenue, noting that debt servicing had been brought down to 65 per cent, despite his regime meeting all its obligations, both foreign and domestic. He added, “We are not going to run away from our responsibility; we are going to face it and we have been facing it head-on.
“With you as a member of this team, I am proud and honoured that I am leading you and we will lead the country to success and prosperity. All I can say is welcome on board, this ship will not sink.”
YILWATDA said the government was fully aware of the battered image of the ministry and the public trust deficit it had to contend with but promised to make a conscious effort to address the challenges.
“We have an image issue here that we need to address. We have a trust deficit within the media industry, the general public and the international community. We must clean those image issues, we must close the deficit gap.
“Doing that, we need to also make sure we bring in transparency and part of the measure of transparency is to get most of our processes automated, so we can bring some level of transparency to make what we are doing visible at the local and international levels,” he said.
WHEN Edun received the new Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, at the ministry’s headquarters, yesterday, he said: “Nigeria now has a foreign exchange rate that is market-based and a deregulated oil market pricing, which are two long overdue reforms that President Tinubu is implementing.”
“Therefore, as coordinating ministers of economy, we stand on a threshold of a new dawn to implement these reforms and increase productivity, create jobs and reduce poverty. We are glad to have a minister of state that will help in actualising the President’s reforms.”
According to him, consultation and collaboration are key to achieving the reforms from the public and private sectors, stressing that ongoing economic policies were showing sustainability and signs of success. Responding, the junior minister restated her commitment to work with stakeholders in both private and public sectors to ensure economic growth.
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