Junaid Mohammed, a Second Republic member of the House of Representatives has come out with a damning assessment of the Muhammadu Buhari cabinet.
In a newspaper interview Mohammed said: “First and foremost, I’m aware that some of the appointees of this regime are already corrupt. I’m far from being impressed by the performance of the so-called ministers.
“Secondly, the president himself spoke about putting square pegs in square holes. From the performances of the ministers, I have not seen the evidence of that as at now. Sadly, they are people who have always taken decisions, which are clearly contrary to national interest. I give you one example: the Attorney-General of the federation, as far as I’m concerned he the chief law officer of the country, but he is not the chief negotiator on economic or even legal interest of the country. I’m aware that this joker, the Attorney-General who had been practicing in Kano – he was a charge-and-bail lawyer in Kano; he took it upon himself through some subterranean connection to link up with MTN and literally attempt to quash the fine imposed by the government regulator, the National Communications Commission. As far as I’m concerned, the attorney general has no right to go simply and intervene in a matter that is before the court of law. If he wants to do any part of his job as a solicitor, he can only do so when the matter is referred to him either by the president or by the Federal Executive Council or by any other ministry, department or agency, but he didn’t have the right he imagined he had to go into that matter, which in fact isn’t a criminal matter, but it is a matter which interests are being contested between a foreign body and agency of the government, NCC, the regulator.”
He added: “I don’t have confidence in many members of the cabinet. I find them incompetent, and most importantly I fault them on integrity.”
On power supply he said: “As I’m talking to you now, I haven’t had light in three days. I’m just wearing my pyjamas; I am holding this handset on my right hand, and holding a small fan, which I use to fan myself and you are telling me that…no matter the qualities my friend, Fashola has been advertised to have, the fact is that he has not been able to solve the problem of light. I’m not dismissing the problem of people who are sabotaging the light; I’m not disputing the fact that quite a number of the people inherited were not on the change in this administration. I do not deny that, but the bottom line is that there is no power in Nigeria.”
