President Tinubu does not have to be Minister of Petroleum – Falae backs Sanusi

Chief Olu Falae, a revered elder statesman and a former minister of finance, has stated that the president of Nigeria need not have the dual post of minister of petroleum and that it is crucial to choose an official to supervise the ministry.

He agrees with the former head of the central bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who previously stated that the president shouldn’t serve as minister of petroleum. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi thinks that if the president were to appoint a minister of petroleum, it would be easier to find someone to blame when things go wrong.

Both the current president, Bola Tinubu, and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, served in this capacity. The senior statesman, however, contended that the president should not head the petroleum ministry but rather a minister.

In my view, the government should appoint a minister to oversee petroleum and all other significant subjects. “However, I am aware that petroleum is crucial to the government’s budget, and no president has ever been able to fully withdraw from petroleum,” he stated Friday night on Channels Television.

“No president has ever been able to keep their hands off petroleum due to its immense importance. Not Babangida because we had a Minister for Petroleum, and not Obasanjo because Buhari was our Petroleum Minister.

To hold the president and Nigerian government to account, I believe it is critical to choose an honest man to the position of minister and entrust him with the country’s petroleum business.

Having a petroleum minister is beneficial, in my opinion. Falae clarified that while all ministers are ultimately responsible to the president, the president need not hold the position of petroleum minister.

‘Politics Can Step In’

According to the ex-presidential candidate, the federal government should fix up Nigeria’s crude oil refineries and sell them to private companies because they’re better at running them.

When Nigeria’s refineries are repaired and recommissioned and sold to firms that know how to run them, he believes the country’s fuel and pricing problems will be significantly alleviated.

Politics will get in the way and we will mess them up if we try to govern them ourselves. This is something I hate to say.