Minister of Power has no interest in any particular appointment – Aide

The Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, says he has no interest in any particular appointment in the ministry other than to put square pegs in square holes for maximum results.

The minister made the clarification in a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Mr Aaron Artimas, in Abuja on Monday.

According to Artimas, the task facing the ministry is not the removal or appointment of officers, but how to deliver power to Nigerians in their various residences or locations.

He said that the ministry was in dire need of sincere public officers to assist in doing so.

“It is quite obvious that most Nigerians are not susceptible to relinquishing public office even after exhausting their welcome or in the face of apparent failure to perform.

“The removal of any public officer is usually accompanied by high dramas, including allegations of victimisation, discrimination and bias

“Such is the case with changes made at the Rural Electrification Agency and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, by the ministry.

“Following the changes earlier announced by the ministry on these two agencies, Nigerians have continued to be regaled by a cacophony noise, alleging victimisation and discrimination,’’ he said.

It was reported that Artimas had earlier said the ministry should not be responding to such myopic and illogical arguments questioning its discretionary judgments, but the reports had irritatingly gone viral with the huge implication of misleading Nigerians.

The minister’s aide also noted that the report had also cast doubts on the ministry’s sincere intentions to sanitise the power sector.

He said that a section of the media supported as usual, by the so-called “wailers”, have gone to town with the sickening and boring allegations of ethnic, regional or religious discrimination, without examining the substance of the changes.

According to him, a group even went to the bizarre level of accusing the minister of power discrimination against women.

“All right thinking Nigerians are aware that since assuming power in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari has poured billions of Naira and attracted huge foreign investments into the power sector, with the aim of improving the generation and distribution of electricity to Nigerians.

“Nigerians should be asking why there was not much improvement in the sector after such concerted efforts by the government and not to encourage “wailers” to sulk over public officers who had been in the ministry for over four years without tangible results,‘’ he said.

Artimas explained that at this level of national development, Nigerians should be thinking of performance instead of promoting trivial or extraneous sentiments on the pretext of criticising government actions.

He said that many Nigerians are not unaware of the squabbling and unfortunate infighting affecting the two agencies as well as other alleged infractions.

“This obviously affected their performance in impacting the entire industry. No responsible leadership will tolerate such chaotic situation and expect success on the ultimate goal of improving power in the country.

“When he assumed duty barely five months ago, Mamman was never under any illusions that his job was going to be a walk in the garden.

“Soon after we began to hear of a cabal which held the ministry by the throat and denying Nigerians the full value of their huge investments in the power sector.

“As early as November last year, this cabal began to sponsor insidious reports using some faceless groups in Lagos, claiming that the ministry under the new minister was bias.

“It is the same “untouchables” who want to perpetuate themselves in power that are now resisting any form of re-organisation meant to re-position the Ministry for optimum performance.

“The Ministry should not be tied down by individuals whose only concern is the retention of power at the expense of service delivery,‘’ he said.