Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, inaugurated a 38-man Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) with a charge that they perform or get kicked out of government.
Speaking during the inauguration at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Jonathan, who will personally take charge as the minister of power, reminded that, the need to deliver dividends of democracy to the people should be paramount on their minds, so that the dream of the nation’s founding fathers would not be in vain.
Also, fielding questions from State House correspondents, Ima Niboro, senior special assistant on media and publicity, said, “The acting president will take charge of power for a certain period. There is a new concept about power. It is going to run as a body that will be chaired by acting president as chairman and he will take responsibility as minister for a certain period of time, and the minister of state will be deputy chairman.”
Niboro who stated that Jonathan would work with a sub-committee on power chaired by Bath Nnaji, stated, “This body will work in close harmony with the power sub committee of the presidential advisory council and Barth Nnaji heads this committee. He is an experienced power consultant.” 
Dousing speculations over the yet to be filled ministries, Niboro disclosed the acting president had forwarded some names to the Senate for clearance as ministers. “You also have noticed that… we do not have minister for water resources and health yet, the names are before the National Assembly and as soon as the Senate resumes we hope that they would be cleared,” Niboro stated.
Pushing further, Jonathan meanwhile, assured he would meet all the ministers in two weeks time to design a template within which they would work so that their performances could be effectively monitored. The acting president, who also intimated that an economic team to be headed by Olusegun Aganga, minister of finance, would be constituted soon, promised that it would help guide the government’s economic progress.
“I will be requesting a fortnightly briefing on the state of our economy from the economic team, which shall be constituted very shortly. This team, under the chairmanship of the minister of finance must help to fast track the process of our development as this is the most important task in the life of our nation. Our present and our future depend on it,” the acting president declared.
Continuing, he insisted that, “Therefore, the mission of this executive council is to deliver on the promise of good governance by showing competence, honesty of purpose, patriotism and selflessness in the privileged business of governance.”
He added, “Honourable ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the blueprint for the actualisation of government objectives are there in the budget and in the various policy frameworks now gathering dust in our archives. No minister will be allowed to go on a mission of endless search for solutions. You must hit the ground running! Time is of fundamental essence and no distraction in our mission will be tolerated. This is a patriotic call to service and the self must therefore take a back seat. This rare privilege must not be abused”.
Going philosophical, he stated that “moments like this offer us an opportunity for reflection and rejuvenation so that the labours of our heroes past shall never truly be in vain. For me, this brief ceremony, as we enter the last lap of our four years mandate is also a time for the revalidation of the original dream of our founding fathers as rooted in our nation’s aspiration for justice, liberty and the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms.
“No longer must we tolerate the triumph of centrifugal forces whose main agenda is to distract and defeat the march of our people to the summit of economic self-sufficiency and political maturity. In this regard, let me use this occasion to once again salute all stakeholders, especially the national assembly, elder statesmen, former heads of state, civil society, the armed forces, religious and opinion leaders, and the various security agencies for their loyalty to the constitution and defence of the Nigerian people and our young democracy,” he stated further.
Sounding patriotic and solemn, the acting president reminded that “the oath of office and oath of allegiance which you have just taken together, constitute a sacred commitment to serve the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without fear or favour, with transparency and accountability, and at all times, with good faith and maximum effort.
“At the outset, let me say clearly that I have confidence in this team, which I believe reflects the ambition of the Federal Government to take bold steps in all sectors. Our people demand the best because mediocre performance will not be enough to meet the high expectations of the moment. I will, therefore, continually monitor and evaluate your performance. Each of you has a portfolio, but our responsibility will also be collective. This means we must support one another, because together, each achieves more”.
The executive council, Jonathan noted, would “continue to work for a rigorous implementation of the policy framework of this administration, which came into office May 29, 2007. While we continue to pray for the speedy recovery of the President, permit me to emphasise the policy continuum of governance and to insist on the imperative of this team to roll up its sleeve and redouble efforts to meet the expectations of our people who are yearning for good governance”.
The acting president who will also work with a committee to deliver power to Nigerians, maintained that, “our efforts in governance must be manifested in the revamp of decaying infrastructure, including steady power supply and good roads, provision of sound and quality education, good health of our people, provision of jobs for our unemployed youths, security of lives and property, commitment to free and fair elections and the very strict adherence to the rule of law”.
He said “to me, the best instrument for the measurement of development is the yardstick of a steady improvement in the quality of life of our people in all areas. In the next two weeks, my office will work with you to determine and agree on ministerial goals and targets, including milestones. This will form the basis for performance agreements that each of you will sign. Once the ministerial objectives are agreed, it will be your responsibility to inform the public and you will also publicly report progress”.
“I will hate to disappoint you but I will hate even more to disappoint the nation. So, let it be made clear that the collective interest of the nation will always override any narrow interests”. Stressing the need for transparency and accountability, Jonathan said “patriotism, accountability and transparency must underpin all our work. We should remember that the public has a keen interest in what we do as public officials. I take public perception seriously because I believe that citizens always matter. We must therefore strive to maintain public confidence at all times. We owe this much to our people”.
On corruption, he reiterated that “the policy of this administration remains a zero tolerance of corruption. Therefore, demonstrable accountability must not only be done but be seen to have been done. In this regard, we will not hesitate to take whatever action necessary to protect the bond of trust, which must always exist between the government and the governed.”
He noted that “…the assignment of offices is not an allocation of privileges. You are here on national assignment and can be reassigned with little or no notice in the national interest, for you are political administrators not operators.
“In the comfort of our offices, let us not forget that majority of our people live below the poverty line and that many of the things we take for granted are in fact, the long unfulfilled dreams of many of our country men, women and children. There is therefore an urgency here that must not escape our attention,” he reminded.
“I look forward to working with you to accomplish important tasks that will result in economic transformation that promotes social mobility and equity, governance initiatives that subordinate government to the people and relationships that promote national unity, peaceful co-existence and security,” Jonathan declared.
Source: BusinessDay
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