Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, minister of cabinet affairs | Credit | Courtesy

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro has appealed to the newly appointed Minister of Finance and Planning to work for the president and not with the president.

Dr. Elia encouraged Minister Dier Tong Ngor to apply his expertise and reform the financial sector.

“I know you Dier, because you can say no to something which is not right. I would like you to transfer that no from the bank to the ministry of finance and work for the President and not with the President,” he said.

The senior official said the revenue generating institutions should be managed correctly.

“Please, do apply your expertise, you are responsible for the National Revenue Authority, you are responsible for the bank. If anything goes wrong in our financial, it is you, it is not everybody else.”

In April last year, Minister Marrtin Elia made a similar statement urging the Minister of Presidential Affairs to do what pleases the Head-of-state.

“Mr President, you are not happy and you have changed ministers, and the new Ministry of Presidential Affairs is the third minister. It is a very serious indication of your discomfort. I want to advise my colleague [Dr Barnaba Benjamin Marial] that this office needs stability. You see, all of us need to work for the president and not with the President,” he said during the swearing ceremony of Dr. Marial Benjamin.

Minister Elia went on to say “there is only one President, so we all [must] work for him, and if he is not happy, he is definitely going to make changes.”

The statement went viral social media and left citizens inquiring about what the minister means.

Meanwhile, speaking at the swearing ceremony of Dier Tong Ngor, the Cabinet Minister appealed to the official to initiate reforms in the country’s economy.

In response, the new Minister of Finance and Planning, Dier Tong pledged to work closely with relevant institutions to ensure the economy is improved.

“I want to assure you, your Excellency that…I will work very closely for you and also with all the economic sector ministries to make sure that we coordinate everything that we do.”