Oyo Assembly Passes Bill to Establish Four Ministries – TheNigerialawyer

The Oyo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, August 6, 2019,
passed the executive bill to establish four ministries in the state
namely, Ministry of Energy; Ministry of Investment, Trade and
Industry bill; Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure and
Transport bill and Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion
bill.

Shedding light on the necessity for the establishment of the new
ministries, the lawmaker representing Kajola State Constituency,
Hon. Mustapha Olawale Akeem noted that the bills is in line with
the intention of Governor Seyi Makinde to have a structural
adjustment of the ministries to put the state on the path of
posterity and upgrade its governance to a global practice.

On the Ministry of Energy, Akeem said that the ministry is aimed
at developing capacity to attend to the power needs of residents
and explore the State power creation potential pointing out that
the ministry would be charged with the responsibility of
strategizing, promoting and developing sustainable policies for
energy planning to ensure availability of reliable energy for the
residents.

Stating that the ministry would work on Public-Private
Partnership, PPP, he said, “As a state, we shall continue to engage
the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ministry of Power and its
Agencies to align power reform policies and implementation through
this ministry”.

Also, the lawmaker representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju State
constituency, Hon. Bamidele Adeola noted that the new ministries
bills is to restructure the existing ones and adjust how their
components are married.

He stated that the executive’s aim on the bills is to break out
of the old norms, stressing that if the ministries are properly
handled, it would bring a lot of change to the State.

“There are no new ministries. We can only call it a kind of
reshuffle because the aim is to marry the right and suitable
components together to form ministries. For instance, the former
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources is proposed to become
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which we believe
will make it more effective. We are just calling on the executive
to ensure round pegs are put in round holes, so that the strategy
and efforts would not be seen as mere body exercise if there are no
corresponding results”, he said.

In his remark, the Speaker of the house, Rt. Hon. Adebo
Ogundoyin assured that the bills would serve their purpose adding,
“We have thoroughly reviewed the bills and we assure our people
that the ministries will serve their intended purposes”.

NNPC Commends Military for Securing Nigeria’s Oil
Sector

The newly appointed Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mele Kolo Kyari has
commended the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) for providing a more
secured environment for the organization to carry out its functions
in the petroleum industry.

The GMD gave the commendation during his courtesy visit to the
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in his office at the Defence
Headquarters (DHQ) Abuja.

In his remarks, the GMD noted that the visit was necessary
considering the important role the AFN has been playing in
curtailing the activities of pipeline vandals and saboteurs of the
nation’s key national economic infrastructures.

Mr Kyari further stated, that the AFN in carrying out its
constitutional mandate, has created the much needed safe
environment for NNPC to conduct petroleum operations for the
benefit of all Nigerians.

Responding, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel
Olonisakin congratulated the GMD on his appointment and assured him
of the readiness of the AFN to collaborate with the NNPC in
safeguarding Nigeria’s national economic infrastructures in the
area of oil and gas.

The CDS further assured the GMD that the AFN will sustain its
Operation AWATSE, which was launched to tackle the menace of
pipeline vandalism in South West Nigeria, amongst other criminal
activities, adding that the AFN will also intensify its ongoing
Operation DELTA SAFE in the South-South region of the country.

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU
Colonel
Acting Director Defence Information