Here are excerpts from the interview:
Q: First of all, let’s look at the President’s October 1 broadcast. What do you make of it?
A: We must recognise that it is a National Day broadcast, and he started by reviewing the state of the polity, particularly our march towards nationhood 55 years after flag independence. Are we a nation yet? Are we just a conglomeration of ethnic nationalities? I think on a day like this, that is the most important thing, all the others are ancillary, though important. It was an efficient broadcast, it may be short but it touched a number of crucial issues.
Q: One issue that has been generating lots of reactions is the ministerial list. The President did promise sometime in July that he was going to name his ministers in September. But what we saw was a submission of ministerial list to the National Assembly.
A: We also need to mind the process and the procedure, Our federal lawmakers would be the first people to kick if the President just reeled out the names of the Ministers and their portfolios. That would not be in order. What he does is to nominate and send to the Senate and after clearance, the Ministers begin to work. At any given time, procedure must be followed.
