… Thanks Nigerians For Support
… Confirms Meeting With G7 Governors, Receives Report on Oduahgate
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 24, (THEWILL) – President Goodluck Jonathan arrived Abuja on Sunday night from Britain saying no Minister abandoned the Honorary International Investor Council (HIIC) meeting in London.
The President, who addressed correspondents on arrival in Abuja, said the Ministers that participated at the council’s meeting “performed very well” during their presentations, adding that only the Minister of Trade and Investment sits through the entire conference since he warehouses the HIIC.
Some controversial online websites had reported that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Dieziani Alison-Madueke, and the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, abandoned the conference midway.
“I think I have to correct this misconception,” President Jonathan said. “Normally, Ministers are not meant to sit for the entire 2-day conference as they are supposed to make their presentations on the day they have been scheduled.
“The HIIC meets two times in a year, usually one in Nigeria and the other abroad. In most cases it is in London but the last one was in France…
“Ministers are meant to go and make presentations even when it is holding in Nigeria. They do not sit throughout the entire period of the meeting. The only person that normally sits throughout is the Minister of Trade and Investment. So you may see a Minister on the first day and not see that Minister on the next day.
“I read some of the perception in the media that the Minister of Communication Technology was not there on Thursday and that the Minister of Petroleum Resources was there on Thursday. They were not meant to make presentation on Thursday… They appeared on Friday and made their presentation, ”President Jonathan explained, adding that the insinuations were unnecessary and silly.
The President while thanking Nigerians for sympathizing with him during his brief illness in London during the HIIC, also confirmed that talks between himself and the aggrieved state governors (G7) in his party will continue this week. The governors belong to the faction of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the chairmanship of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
He also confirmed receiving the report of the committee that was set up to examine the scandalous purchase of two BMW 7 series armoured vehicles for over N200m by the Minister of Aviation.
