By Ben Agande
Abuja—Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, Wednesday, denied any face-off between Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and her Petroleum Resources counterpart, Deziani Alison-Madueke, over the payment of petroleum subsidy to oil marketers.
According to him, the alleged face off existed in the "realm of speculations."
There had been reports that the insistence of the Minister of Finance that subsidy payments be made only after due process had been followed had pitched her against her Petroleum counterpart, who insisted that such delay could worsen the precarious fuel situation in the country.
After the Federal Executive Council meeting yesterday, Abati said members of the cabinet were on one page with the President in ensuring that good governance was provided to the Nigerians.
He said: "I am not aware that there is a face-off between the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
"What people have been writing about is in the realm of speculation, which I think should be ignored. There is no crack in the government and all ministers are on one page with the President in his transformation agenda.
"We should always have our facts instead of dealing with speculations that are not based on facts."
On Boko Haram
On the reports that the Boko Haram had written to the Federal Government on its readiness to go into dialogue with government, Dr. Abati said he was not aware that such request had been formally handed over to government. He, however, promised to find out if the request had been formally made.
Speaking on the recent bombing of the church in Jaji and the attack by some gunmen on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters in Abuja, Abati said security chiefs had already briefed the President on the matter.
He added that steps were being taken to guarantee the security of lives and property of all Nigerians.
Abati said the setting up of investigative panels by both the Chief of Defence Staff and Inspector-General of Police was one of the measures being taken by security agencies to ensure that the unfortunate incidences do not happen again.
