By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Presidency yesterday disowned the ministerial list being branded by the media, describing it as mere fabrications.
The Presidency also said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is reaping from the crisis in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that President Bola Tinubu was operating an open door policy that has endeared him to people within and outside the country.
Recall that recent reports have speculated on who may have been penciled down for ministerial appointments, harping on alleged intense lobbying by interested Nigerians.
Asked to give an update on the formation of the cabinet the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, said there is no truth in what has been put in public space.
He said that the President is within the stipulated 60 days period by the Constitution to submit the list of ministerial list, adding that it’s only Mr President knows who should make his cabinet.
Speaking during a press briefing with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Alake said that the responsibility of appointing ministers rests solely on the President who will do so when he chooses.
He said, “About the ministerial list. But the simple truth is that you know, this is an executive presidency, we’re not running a parliamentary system. So, the President, the bucks stop on his table, and he decides when it’s fit and proper for him to make his cabinet list known.
“We are not unaware of all the speculations, and innuendos and rumours, all kinds of things in the media. But, as a media man, I chuckle to myself that people want to sell, so they just fabricate.
“I can tell you all of those things you’ve been reading in the media mere fabrications. There is no iota of truth in all of those things. When the President is good and ready. You will be the first to know about his intentions.”
Alake also informed that Tinubu’s meetings with opposition figures have nothing to do with the formation of his cabinet, noting that it is in line with his decision to run an open government.
He said Wednesday’s visit to the president by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Senator Anyim Pius Ayim, and former Peoples Democratic Party National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, was to commend President Tinubu for the steps he has taken so far.
He praised them for their courage and sincerity just as he blasted other opposition members for turning their backs on the efforts of the new administration.
Alake said the issue of former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, is a matter of harvesting from the internal crisis of the PDP
Recall that since Tinubu’s inauguration, Wike has been a regular caller at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, “Wike’s case is self-explanatory. It was the tempestuous nature of the PDP internal political wrangling that caused Wike’s issue and you are all aware of that. So that one has no issues with Wike’s thing, it’s an internal affair of the PDP.
“However if as a political party, your enemy is fighting itself, you reap whatever gain from it without lifting a finger, that’s what happened.
“Now about the PDP people that came, you know the President said that his administration is running an open door policy and he is a unifier, he is a symbol of unity of the country. So if anybody from any angle wishes to see the President and has some salient point to raise or issues or observations or even suggestions, the President opens his doors.
“So those people, Pius Anyim and Olisa Metuh came purposely to commend Mr President. They came to commend the President for his positive policy initiatives that have put Nigeria back on the global stage and it is not just their saying, it is not what they say they observe, we have received the same accolades and encomium from all parts of the globe.
“So it’s not restricted to the PDP people. I think we should commend them for being quite honest and sincere with their views because there are some of the opposition people who also acknowledge this very laudable initiative of Mr. President but they are too prejudiced or myopic or parochial to acknowledge it publicly, so we need to commend those people for having the guts.”
