By Abiola Olawale
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has clarified that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu never declared that he is the Minister of Petroleum.
The senior presidential aide said the speculations about Tinubu being the Minister of Petroleum is a media misrepresentation.
Onanuga made this during an interview with Channels TV on Sunday in Abuja.
The president’s spokesperson also explained that Tinubu appointed two ministers to currently oversee the oil and gas sector, and the president sees no need to label himself a minister.
He stated: “I think I’ve answered this question somewhere. The President has never called himself the minister of petroleum. You people in the media give him that title. We have two ministers there already. As far as President Tinubu is concerned, there are all ministers.
“The president supervises all his ministers. He is in charge of everything. He’s in charge of all ministries under him,” Onanuga said.
Speaking further, Onanuga stated that Tinubu is prioritizing the gas sector, which had been neglected by previous administrations.
He added: “We have two ministers, and one of them focuses on gas. That is an area that this government found that in the past Nigeria neglected the gas sector.
“Whereas Nigeria is more of a gas country than an oil country. President Tinubu is focusing on gas. Recently, President Obasanjo said he made a mistake during his time by not focusing on gas.
“And now, president Tinubu is rectifying that by making sure that we are focusing now on gas.”
It would be recalled that
after taking office in May 2023, Tinubu appointed two ministers of state for oil and gas: Heineken Lokpobiri and Ekperikpe Ekpo. However, he did not name a substantive minister for the sector. This has led to speculation that he may have kept the role for himself.
