Ministers: Some portfolios are mismatched – Atiku’s aide

Daniel Bwala, an aide to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the last general election, Atiku Abubakar, has said that some of the positions President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assigned to his ministers are mismatched.

Tinubu had on Wednesday assigned 45 portfolios to ministers-designate who will be sworn in Monday.

But Bwala, in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, said he had reservations over the portfolios, noting that some square pegs were put in round holes.

He said, “I have reservations about so many of Tinubu’s ministers. I will caption my reservation as square pegs in round holes and the challenge of Renewed Hope. There are people who are not competent enough, in my view, to be on the list.

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“There are people who are competent but their portfolios are mismatched. Hannatu for example is made the minister of culture while her counterpart, Betta Edu is made minister of humanitarian.

“You have a president who believes he needs to invade Niger, probably to extend that to Mali and Burkina Faso. The president as the chairman of ECOWAS is committed to fighting. There may be humanitarian crises around the borders. That is exactly where she is from. She is very familiar with humanitarian issues. Hannatu would have fit into humanitarian.

“Secondly, the minister of state defence was a former governor who all through the four years his rating in fighting insecurity is 5 over 100. And now you made him minister of state to administer what?”