The special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Bayo Onanuga has said his boss has never referred to himself as the minister of petroleum.
In 2023, President Tinubu appointed Ekperipe Ekpo as minister of state for petroleum resources (gas), and named Heineken Lokpobiri as minister of state, petroleum resources (oil).
Onanuga, whilst speaking on the president’s recent cabinet overhaul, on Sunday, when he featured in a Channels Television programme, said the president never saw himself as the substantive petroleum minister.
“You people in the media gave him that position. There are two ministers of petroleum. As far as the president is concerned, there are two ministers there and one of them focuses on gas,“ he said.
“This present government found that in the past, Nigeria neglected that gas sector. Nigeria is more of a gas country than an oil country.
“Former president Obasanjo recently said he made a mistake by not focusing on gas and Tinubu is rectifying that.”
Former President Muhammadu Buhari, during his tenure, appointed himself the minister of petroleum resources.
During his first term, the former president appointed Ibe Kachikwu as minister of state for petroleum resources. Kachikwu was replaced by Timipre Sylva in the second term.