When informed of the need to get the views of the Permanent Secretary in person, he said: “You know in civil service there’s no vacuum.
“And just like you are all aware, the President directed that the perm sec should oversee the affairs of the Ministry.
“So, the right person to talk to you is actually the Permanent Secretary. But he went out for a meeting now.
“But what I will do is, I will collect your number, when he comes back I’ll call you to repeat your visit.”
But when informed that we visited the Permanent Secretary on Monday and were told that the Permanent Secretary was busy, the official said: “he was in a meeting yesterday.
“But in terms of communicating to the Perm Sec, the Presidency has done that.
“He has been duly informed to take over.”
Recall that Mr. President through his Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale had directed the suspended Minister to “hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and she is further directed by the President to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.
“Furthermore, the President has tasked a panel that is headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming the relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative.”
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