Presidency Reacts to Calls for Tinubu’s Sack As Minister of Petroleum: “You Gave Him That Position”

• The presidency has reacted to claims suggesting that President Tinubu is the minister of petroleum
• Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, clarified the claims, noting that the media gave Tinubu the "minister of petroleum" position
• Onanuga spoke a few days after two public commentators, Baba Yusuf and Femi Odeere, called for Tinubu's removal as petroleum minister
• They argued that Tinubu retaining the office for himself has hindered the improvement of the country’s daily oil production

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

State House, Abuja - President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dismissed reports that he is Nigeria’s substantive petroleum minister.

Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to President Tinubu on information and strategy, made the rebuttal on Sunday, October 27, when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

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Presidency clarifies Tinubu’s “job” as petroleum minister

According to Onanuga, the president had never addressed himself with such a title. He added that the nation already has two ministers handling the affairs of the oil sector.

“I think I have answered this question somewhere. The President has never called himself the Minister of Petroleum. You people in the media gave him that position. We have two ministers there. One of them focuses on gas. That’s an area this government found in the past that Nigeria neglected the gas sector. Nigeria is more of a gas country than an oil country.

“Just recently, former President Obasanjo said he made a mistake during his time by not focusing on gas. President Tinubu is rectifying that by making sure that we are focusing now on gas. The president supervises all his ministers. All of them. He is in charge of everything including all the ministries under him,” Onanuga stated.

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The Cable confirmed the development in their publication on Monday, October 28.

Recall that two public commentators asked President Tinubu to surrender his office as substantive minister of petroleum to a competent Nigerian.

Baba Yusuf and Femi Odeere argued that retaining the office of petroleum minister for himself since he composed his cabinet in August 2023 has not boosted the country’s daily oil production in any way.

They made this assertion on Friday, days after President Tinubu reshuffled his cabinet, sacked five ministers, reassigned 10 others and made seven fresh appointments.

Read more about Tinubu's cabinet reshuffle here:

• Primate Ayodele spots Tinubu’s mistake in cabinet shake-up: “He sacked the wrong ministers”
• Cabinet reshuffle: PDP chieftain Okai knocks Tinubu over refusal to sack defence minister

Cabinet reshuffle: Presidency speaks on Betta Edu's fate

In another development, Legit.ng reported that Bayo Onanuga said Betta Edu has now left the federal cabinet for good.

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Why Tinubu must reverse scrapping of Niger Delta ministry, Timi Frank explains

Recently, President Tinubu named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement during a cabinet reshuffle.

Edu was sanctioned over an alleged corruption scandal linked to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng