The Presidency on Sunday replied those attacking President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing himself the Minister of Petroleum Resources, saying that he had not broken the law.
Recall that Buhari had in an interview last week during his visit to New York said he would head the ministry and that he would only appoint a Minister of State to assist him.
His decision was greeted with so much criticisms from angry Nigerians, who have argued that the nation’s constitution forbids a sitting President from holding another public office.
But the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, while speaking to The Punch, slammed those behind the attack on Presiden Buhari as “briefcase-carrying crooks.”
The presidential spokesman said because the said crooks were aware that Buhari would not “do deals” with them, they would not want to go down without putting up a fight, hence the criticism.
He added that Buhari would also be bringing knowledge to the sector because beside the military, “the oil industry is one other area where the President is very knowledgeable.”
The presidential spokesman said, “The President has a lot of experience to bring to the oil industry. Besides the military, the oil industry is another area where he is knowledgeable.
“Mr. President also has tremendous integrity which he is bringing to the sector, which is the most rotten in the nation’s economy.
“The criticisms are coming from deal makers and briefcase-carrying cooks because they know that Buhari is not a deal maker.
“The deal makers are not ready to go down without shouting because they know that their days are over.”
On the claim that it is unconstitutional for a sitting President to hold another public office, Shehu said all the powers of the executive arm of government reside in the President.
“The President personifies the Executive. The power of the Executive arm resides in him. He can only be queried if he goes beyond the Executive arm and ventures into the Legislature or Judiciary,” Shehu concluded
