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A Lagos lawyer, Nnaemeka Iheoinu, has said that it is wrong for President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint himself the Minister for Petroleum, instead of naming someone else for the position.
In an interview Daily Independent in Lagos, Iheonu, a member of the International bar Association (IBA), said the action of Mr. President is against the provisions and spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
It would be recalled that while listing the portfolios for the ministers during their inauguration on Wednesday November 11, 2015, Buhari named himself as the Minister of Petroleum while he named Ibe Kachikwu as the Minister of State for Petroleum.
Iheonu said: “The idea of Buhari being the Minister of Petroleum is somehow unconstitutional. Section 138 of the constitution states that the President shall not hold any other Executive position while in office.
“Therefore, he is not supposed to be occupying any other executive position. He ought to appoint another person who should be accountable to him. As a Minister of Petroleum, how can he be accountable to himself?”
Iheonu urged Buhari to look at the provision of Section 138 of the constitution very well and quickly correct himself by upgrading Kachikwu to a substantive Minister of Petroleum.
He stressed that the Ministry of Petroleum which oversees the nation’s cash cow, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be headed by a substantive minister and technocrat who should be closely monitored by the president.
In an interview Daily Independent in Lagos, Iheonu, a member of the International bar Association (IBA), said the action of Mr. President is against the provisions and spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
It would be recalled that while listing the portfolios for the ministers during their inauguration on Wednesday November 11, 2015, Buhari named himself as the Minister of Petroleum while he named Ibe Kachikwu as the Minister of State for Petroleum.
Iheonu said: “The idea of Buhari being the Minister of Petroleum is somehow unconstitutional. Section 138 of the constitution states that the President shall not hold any other Executive position while in office.
“Therefore, he is not supposed to be occupying any other executive position. He ought to appoint another person who should be accountable to him. As a Minister of Petroleum, how can he be accountable to himself?”
Iheonu urged Buhari to look at the provision of Section 138 of the constitution very well and quickly correct himself by upgrading Kachikwu to a substantive Minister of Petroleum.
He stressed that the Ministry of Petroleum which oversees the nation’s cash cow, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be headed by a substantive minister and technocrat who should be closely monitored by the president.