By Etuka Sunday
The newly appointed Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu yesterday assumed duty with an appeal to industry stakeholders to work together as a team to deliver stable power supply to Nigerians.
Addressing directors, staff and other stakeholders of the ministry, Aliyu said, there was need for the stakeholders to work together for better results.
Recall, Aliyu was appointed the Minister of Power last Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting following the sack of Mamman Sale as Minister of Power.
He was redeployed from the Ministry of Works and Housing as the Minister of State.
The Minister said “I am here to work together with all of you. I listen carefully when some of you introduced yourself with various titles working in the ministry of power.
“I want those titles to be translated to production of power to Nigerians from generation, transmission to distribution that is when our title will make more meaning.
“Otherwise time would come when we would be ashamed to mention our names with those titles.
“I want to urge everyone, from the permanent secretary down the ladder to the cleaners, we should be dedicated, committed to the task at hand. I know you have done a lot. I am here to assist, you are the ones doing the job and will continue to do it.
“I am not an electrical engineer or having anything to do with power in the past but I am an engineer and I know when something is going wrong I will detect it, I will not allow it and I will try my best to make amend, together with you or without you, because that is my mandate, to ensure that we succeed”.
Aliyu explicated that he was sent to the Ministry with a purpose to “look at everything you are doing as regards to power generation, transmission, and distribution”, stressing that “our work is very key, it touches the lives of all Nigerians, 200 million people, so you know it is an enormous responsibility invested on all of us.
“Don’t look at me as the Minister of Power that I have come to make magic, no, I am not a magician. I am coming to add value to what you have already been doing. So let us work together in honesty and full commitment”, he admonished.
Earlier, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr William Alo assures the minister that all the staff of the ministry were ready to work with him to deliver power to Nigerians.
“In the ministry of power, all staff are working together as a team to deliver on the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure power is available to Nigerians.
“We know you are here to continue the good work of the president as it concerns the power sector.
“We will assure you of commitment to redouble our efforts to make sure we deliver on our mandate, ‘’ he said.
