President Muhammadu Buhari assigned formal roles to his pioneer ministers on Wednesday.
The 36 ministers and junior ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s pioneer government spent the first day at work on Thursday, November 12, 2015 after they swore the oath of allegiance and were assigned formal roles in a swearing-in ceremony Buhari chaired in the capital Abuja on Wednsday, November 11, 2015.
The new government finally got to work 166 days after President Buhari took over office on May 29, 2015 following his victory against incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria’s March 2015 presidential election. Buhari during the ceremony reportedly described the appointments as a "milestone" and indicated it had taken so long to decide because of the need to put "round pegs in round holes" with the right people for the job.
"I have been conscious of the need not to repeat the mistakes of the past," he is quoted as saying. He added the ministers had been chosen on the basis of their abilities and performance. Buhari who has been seeking to streamline government and cut endemic corruption, slashed the number of ministers from 36 to 24, making some nominees only junior ministers.
Prominent cabinet ministers in the government include, Kemi Adeosun, former investment banker and accountant who is the Finance Minister, Ibe Kachikwu, head of the State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the junior Minister of Petroleum and will assist President Buhari in overseeing the day-to-day running of the sector.
Retired Brigadier-General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali, is the Minister of Defence. Former army chief Abdulrahman Dambazau was appointed Interior Minister. Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola is the Minister of Works and Housing, while the former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi is Minister of Transport.
Reacting to the new government, Mike Ejiofor, a security consultant and former director of Nigeria’s spy agency, the Department of State Services, said, “We have waited this long, but there seems not to be something new. “We will want the ministers to hit the ground running,” The Wall Street Journal quoted.
The appointment of the new government is said to be in compliance with Nigeria’s constitution which demands the appointment of a minister from each of Nigeria’s 36 States.
