APC LAUDS BUHARI'S MINISTERIAL LIST..PDP KEEPS MUTE

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed confidence in the competence of the ministerial team released by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.

The party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, said though the names had not been officially released, going by the reports of notable Nigerians being touted, the party was at home and very impressed that this time the country will get the best in governance.

Oyegun, who spoke on telephone on Thursday afternoon, also commended President Buhari for keeping to the promise he made to Nigerians.
“The list is very encouraging. These are the kind of people I want and I am very happy,” he said.
On how the party felt about the president’s effort to always keep to promises made by his administration, Oyegun said: “Yes, it is gladdening. For him, that is his character, that is President Buhari for you, he keeps to his words every time and we are not are surprised at all.
Just as the president kept to his word on the submission of his ministerial list last month, the APC national chairman said the onus was now on the senate to also hasten action on the screening and endorsement of the president’s team so that the administration would formally take off full-blast.
“The screening is expected to be quick, more so when the people involved are very well-known and we know that they have no baggage. They are very committed Nigerians, especially if the names that are being rumoured are anything to go by,” he said.
On its part, the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has maintained a sordid silence on the submission of the president’s ministerial list.
Although the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, could not be reached on telephone yesterday, a reliable source in the party said that the party was still studying the situation and waiting for the official list of the nominees before it can make informed comment.
President Buhari on Wednesday sent the first list containing the names of 21 ministerial nominees to the Senate leadership, thus ending months of suspense and debate over when he would constitute his cabinet.
From unofficial reports, the list has the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN); former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi; former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd.), as the first batch of ministerial nominees to the Senate.