Buhari To Ministers: Don’t Come To Me, Submit All Requests To My Chief of Staff, SGF
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday pointedly told 43 Ministers-designate expected to be sworn-in tomorrow to submit all requests meant for him to his Chief of Staff (CoF), Mr. Abba Kyari while every executive matter should go to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha.
The President, who gave the directive at the closing ceremony of the two day Presidential Retreat for the Ministers-designate at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, charged the incoming ministers to work collaboratively and purposefully with a view to achieve quicker results.
In the words of the President; “In terms of coordination, kindly ensure that all submissions for my attention or meeting requests be channeled through the Chief of Staff, while all Federal Executive Council matters be coordinated through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“Public service is not easy work, and at times it can be thankless. I am therefore charging you all to see this opportunity to serve as an honour, to give your best to deliver on this mandate, for a more prosperous Nigeria, not for some, but for all Nigerians.
“You will find that working collaboratively and purposefully will enable us to achieve quicker results, recognizing that four years is not a very long time.
“For the new Ministers, make sure you engage and benefit from the experience of the older Ministers and former Governors in the cabinet.
Buhari said that the retreat had been very instructive for him personally, because he had had the opportunity to know many of the new Ministers-Designate better, adding that he was pleased to see that they have all equally enjoyed debating and deliberating on the various challenges before them over the next four years.
The President further said; “Majority of our people are poor and are anxiously hoping for a better life. A Nigeria in which they do not have to worry about what they will eat, where they will live or if they can afford to pay for their children’s education or healthcare.
“Our responsibility as leaders of this great country is to meet these basic needs for our people. As I mentioned yesterday, this Administration inherited many challenges from our predecessors to mention a few:
“In our first term, we laid the foundation to rebuild our country. Our investments in road and rail infrastructure are without precedent, and many of you can attest to this. We also focused on diversifying the economy from oil towards agriculture and industrialization. Despite reduced revenues from oil and gas compared to past governments, we have broadly addressed many of the legacy debts they left behind.”
