Information reaching Greenbarge Reporters has indicated that President Muhammadu Buhari has handed down 100 priority areas, including the much-talked about his promise to pay N5,000 to unemployed youths, to the incoming ministers.
This fact filtered in today when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was declaring close, a two-day Presidential retreat for the ministers-designate at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Newsmen were advancing towards the Hall where the Vice President was to address the participants, but were blocked by security and protocol personnel. Before they were driven back, Osinbajo was heard telling the ministers-designate: “I’m sure you have all got the documents in which the details about our direction are enclosed. You will discover that there are 100 priority areas.”
The ministers-designate were cautioned to treat all papers delivered at the two-day retreat and the documents in the folders handed to them as confidential, and should not be made available to the media.
This was even as one of the ministers-designate, Senator Chris Ngige, said they were ready to operate with a lean economy.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the end of the two-day Presidential retreat, Ngige said that it is the desire of the present administration to block all leakages in the economy.
“Yes, we shall operate a lean economy because we are going to block areas of leakages, retinue of aides, protocol staff, large convoys of cars are things that will not fly in this administration.”
He also said that the ongoing debate over statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari that not all ministers would be assigned portfolios was not necessary.
Ngige said with or without portfolios, it is the responsibility of all ministers to join hands and move the nation forward, adding: “If you have portfolio, if you don’t have portfolio, it is one single Federal Executive Council. You bring whatever it is on the table. That is not a problem at all.
“We have the right to discuss things around the ministries because it is one single cabinet. The important thing is that we want to move our people from where they are now, they are in abject poverty which concerns about 75 percent of the populace.
“So, we need to actually restructure the political and social moment of the country and that is what we are going to do. That means poverty will reduce.” [myad]
