Ministers who began tenure threatening fire, brimstone may lack direction – Bwala
A former PDP presidential campaign spokesman, Daniel Bwala, on Wednesday, expressed criticism of ministers whose tenure took off by issuing stern warnings to stakeholders.
Several of the 45 new ministers arrived at their duty posts for the first time on Monday, moments after President Bola Tinubu inaugurated them and a fortnight since their weeklong ministerial screening concluded at the Senate.
Bwala, who appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, noted that the initial statements of some ministers indicated that they had a clear idea of what they were going into.
“There are others, maybe they have an idea, we don’t know, but their first speech with the Nigerian people is threatening fire and brimstone,” he said.
“To us, we felt that somebody who does that probably does not have a firm grasp of the role he is going to play or an idea of where he is going.
“Sometimes, even if you do, priority also matters. If you have too many issues, you know which one comes first, which one comes second.”
Bwala expressed his admiration for the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, commending his selection and performance during the screening process.
He cited Fagbemi’s “stellar” core objective to ensure adherence to the rule of law, which to the minister “simply means obeying rules and regulations and that the vision of Mr President should key into the rule of law”.
The PDP stalwart added “For example, him being a lawyer, the creed of our law practice is that every legal practitioner is to promote the rule of law, foster the course of justice and not to be engaged in any conduct that is unbecoming of a legal practitioner. That is striking.”
Bwala’s disapproval comes on the heels of a demolition warning sounded by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to landlords of properties distorting the master plan of Abuja.
The former Rivers governor maintained that for anyone who has developed where they are not supposed to, even if the culprit is a minister or an ambassador, “your house must go down”.
