Fashola Reports For Duty Shortly After Inauguration, Pledges Reforms in the Power Sector

Former Lagos governor, now Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on Wednesday reported for duty at the federal secretariat, shortly after his inauguration at the presidential villa.

The minister who is said to have been received with jubilation from staff of the ministry was subsequently received by the Director, Human Resources of the ministry, Mrs Grace Papka and immediately went into a meeting with the directors of the ministry.

The former governor however refused to address the press but a statement from the media head of the ministry, Timothy Oyedeji, said that he stated at the meeting his thoughts on how to bring together activities of all the ministries now under his supervision for effective service delivery.
ThisDay quoted the minister to have said:

“We are here to work with you, in solving problems on ground as quickly as possible. We want to know if some of those problems are man-made or systemic.
“We want information on what has been done, what remains to be done, and what are the future plans. We want to continue from there.

Meanwhile his counterpart  from Rivers, the Minister of Transports, Rotimi Amaechi has pledged to complete all ongoing rail projects around the country and to extend rail lines to all parts of the country.

Amaechi made the pledge during his first day in office as minister shortly after his inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday.

The minister said he said he would resume work fully on Nov. 17 when the new Permanent Secretary, Mr Sabiu Zakari, would equally assume duty at the ministry.

Amaechi added that his meeting with the Permanent Secretary and the Directors on Nov. 17 would begin by looking at the budget and its level of implementation.

According to him, the meeting is necessary to chart a new course toward completing all ongoing projects, especially the rail and extending it to different part of the country.

Amaechi, however, called for cooperation from all parastatals and agencies of the ministry and the aviation sector.

He promised to ensure a smooth working relationship with the Minister of State for Aviation for the development of the sector as well as meeting the expectations of Nigerians.

His words:

“I belief in principles of discharging my duties’’.
“We are interested in completing all ongoing rail projects around the country because we don’t want to disappoint Nigerians.
“It is important that we realise that we have a mandate to deliver on our promises and there is competition among the ministers to deliver and we don’t want to take last.

Amaechi also emphasised on the issue of corruption, warning that anybody that would work with him must not approach him for money.