Almost six month After he was inaugurated as the new president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has finally sworn in 36 ministers into his cabinet, six members fewer that his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan’s.
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The president, who also takes charge of the Ministry of Petroleum as substantive Minister, described the event as a milestone and added that since his inauguration in May, he had been optimistic of bringing high-quality persons into his cabinet.
Adeosun, 48, is a UK-trained accountant who worked at Nigerian investment bank Chapel Hill Denham and was most recently the finance commissioner of southwestern Ogun state.
Buhari, who took office on May 29, won a general election in March after vowing to crack down on corruption in Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer.
President Buhari named himself Minister of Petroleum, while Ibe Kachikwu (Delta State) was named Minister of State (Petroleum).
He said the choice was deliberate to appoint square pegs in square holes to avoid the mistake of appointing those who would not perform.
“It wasn’t really worth the wait”, said Olusegun Sotola, a Lagos-based research fellow at the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis. “We’re probably just going to be hearing platitudes and rhetoric from them until February”.
Little-known – yet egghead – Kemi Adeosun was handed the finance portfolio to give direction to Africa’s largest economy.
Below are 6 notable quotes from Buhari’s address to the ministers.
Spokesman of the APC Lai Muhammed was given the information ministry while Adebayo Shittu got the communication ministry.
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Nigeria on Wednesday finally got a new government after more than five months of waiting, as 36 ministers and junior ministers swore the oath of allegiance and were assigned formal roles. MTN is contesting the fine.
