A new federal cabinet was sworn in yesterday, with acting President Goodluck Jonathan taking charge of the power ministry and six returnee ministers retaining their former portfolios.

A minister of state has been appointed for the Ministry of Power, and Jonathan’s spokesman Ima Niboro said the acting president would hold the substantive power portfolio for now.

“The purpose is to achieve the set targets in the power sector by the administration,” Niboro said yesterday, shortly after 38 new ministers took oath of office and were assigned portfolios in 29 ministries.

The acting president is to work closely with an electricity power consultant and Chairman of Independent Power Producers Association of Nigeria, Professor Barth Nnaji, who heads a government committee on power.

“Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, is to take charge of the Power Ministry for now. A new power team is being put in place to work in conjunction with the Professor Barth Nnaji led Power Sub-Committee of the presidential advisory council. This new body is to take charge of a new power initiative to be unveiled in a matter of days,” Niboro said in a statement.

“The Acting President shall chair this body, with the minister of state, power, as deputy chair. The body is to be made up of experts in the different areas of power, from generation to transmission, distribution and finance.”

Mr. Nuhu Somo Wya has been reappointed as Minister of State for Power, and the ministry would now be supervised directly from the office of the acting president.

Others who returned to their previous portfolios are Akinlabi Olasukanmi (Youth Development), Shamsuddeen Usman (National Planning), Dora AKunyili (Information), John Odey (Environment) and Aderemi Babalola (State for Finance).

Inaugurating the cabinet at the State House, Jonathan had told the new ministers that they would have to sign performance agreement on ministerial goals and target. He said the oath of office and oath of allegiance the ministers took constituted a sacred commitment to serve the country without fear or favour.

He warned against divisive tendencies, saying “No longer must we tolerate the triumph of centrifugal forces whose main agenda is to distract and defeat the march of our people to the summit of economic self-sufficiency and political maturity.”

He said from now on, he would be requesting a briefing fortnightly on the state of economy from the economic team, which he said would be constituted very shortly and under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance.

Jonathan three weeks ago sacked the cabinet, which was appointed by ailing President Umaru Yar’adua.

At least two substantive ministerial portfolios have yet to be filled. The acting president has sent names of nominees who would take up the vacant slots to the Senate for confirmation.