There are speculations
that President
Muhammadu Buhari
will keep the petroleum
minister portfolio for
himself in the new
cabinet rather than
trust anyone else with the ministry, which currently
contributes over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue.
Reuters quoted some close associates of the President as
saying this on Tuesday.
One long-standing associate of Buhari, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because the cabinet decision was
still under wraps, said Nigeria’s oil sector was so dirty that
nobody’s hands were clean enough to do the “surgical
changes” needed.
Reuters also quoted another political associate as saying,
“He will do it. It would be stupid to give that position to
anyone else.”
The first source said Buhari had still not decided on his
cabinet and had laughed off media speculation about the
figures he would appoint, joking with friends as he read out
a newspaper article that mentioned possible names: “They
have picked my ministers for me! Have I even told you who I
want?”
Buhari has extensive knowledge of the oil sector, having
been head of the Petroleum Trust Fund under an ex-military
ruler, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, in the 1990s and oil
minister in the 1970s under Olusegun Obasanjo.
He was voted in by Nigerians on an anti-corruption platform
after years in which graft appeared to worsen under the
leadership of his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari sent a list of 15 special advisers to the outgoing
National Assembly for approval on Tuesday, but the cabinet
is unlikely to be publicly revealed until the end of July or
early August, Reuters reported.
The Senate, which must confirm the cabinet, will convene
only briefly on June 9 before its members go on recess for
up to six weeks.
“It’s going to be a lean government; I doubt he’ll have 42
ministers like Jonathan but he must have at least 36 (for the
number of states) as prescribed by the constitution, though
it does not specify whether they have to be senior or junior,”
an adviser in the ruling All Progressives Congress party was
quoted as saying.
The new administration had not yet gone through Jonathan’s
handover notes on policy, the adviser said.
“There is a huge body of proposals being bandied around
the place,” the adviser said, adding that nothing beyond
broad strokes had been outlined.
Jonathan has left Buhari with a cash-strapped government,
with a rainy-day fund so depleted that the government must
borrow just to cover salaries.
The government relies on oil sales for the bulk of its
revenues but there has been little oversight on how these
are handled. A former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor,
Lamido Sanusi, was sacked under Jonathan after he
declared that some $20bn in oil revenues was missing
between 2012 and 2013.

www.punchng.com/news/buhari-likely-to-head-oil-ministry-in-new-cabinet/

Let's move the nation forward and our generations to come will enjoy with us