He said the choice was deliberate to appoint square pegs in square holes to avoid the mistake of appointing those who would not perform.
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Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari formed a government on Wednesday that several investors and analysts said appears inclined to defend the country’s oil-dependent currency.
Buhari himself has said he will be oil minister, overseeing reforms to the notoriously murky sector at a time of low global crude prices that have hurt government revenues badly.
“Actually, it is even simple: you have the rules, rules are set, go by the rules and you are home and dry”.
Buhari is keen to diversify the economy of Africa’s No. 1 oil producer, boosting investment in agriculture, manufacturing and mining.
The defense portfolio was handed to retired Brigadier-General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali, who was preferred to former army chief Abdulrahman Dambazau, who was appointed interior minister.
Babatunde Fashola, the former governor of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, will head the public works and electricity ministry. The latter served as Buhari’s campaign manager during elections in March.
The delay in the establishment of a cabinet in Nigeria had created a political limbo inside the country and uncertainty in the business world.
He said the responsibilities bestowed on the new permanent secretaries are so enormous that the success or otherwise of the government would largely depend on their competence, ability and capacity to discharge their duties most effectively and efficiently.
The announcement of the new cabinet line-up, however, heralds a clearer picture.
“APC campaign rhetoric had made it clear there will be a renewed focus on national planning”.
He said: “I believe this new selection technique will have, hopefully brought up to light a few of the best, dedicated, patriotic and hardworking civil servants to hold this position of trust”.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday swore in 16 of the 18 permanent secretaries of the federal civil service recently appointed with a warning that acts capable of derailing the attainment of the current administration’s change agenda would be viewed with all seriousness and dealt with accordingly.
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“Since our inauguration on May 29, 2015, the Vice President and I have been mindful of the need to constitute a cabinet that will best deliver our expectations of a better country than we inherited”. His swearing-in marked the first peaceful transfer of power between parties in Nigeria’s history.
