FOR those that are eager to hear
President Muhammadu Buhari name his cabinet members, they will have to
tarry awhile because the President’s cabinet members may not be
announced untill the end of August or early September.
A source very close to the President confided in The PUNCH on Sunday that Buhari would not form any cabinet until the “rot left behind by the past administration” is cleared.
“Mr. President is reluctant to build on a
rotten foundation he inherited from the Peoples Democratic Party
administration. You cannot even begin to imagine the situation we have
met on the ground; almost everything is in a state of decay.
“There
is absolutely no way the new government can hope to achieve anything
long-lasting without first building a new foundation,” the source said.
The source added that clearing the PDP
rot was not a month’s job and said those that had been heckling the
President over lack of cabinet were politicians looking for jobs.
“They have tried doing it other ways and
those haven’t worked. They only want their cronies appointed to
ministerial posts anyhow and they are fuelling the agitation,” the
source said.
He also said Buhari was taking his time
to know the ministries that would survive government’s planned pruning
and the desire to cut cost of governance.
The source likened President Buhari’s
plan of action to that of a doctor, who first has to break a poorly set
bone afresh, before resetting it to allow for smooth and proper growth.
Over the past week, Buhari has come
under criticism because he had yet to appoint his cabinet members,
despite having more than three months since his election, including a
month since his inauguration.
The President was sworn in on May 29, exactly one month ago today.
Responding to the criticism, the source
pointed out that it would be impossible to appoint ministers to
portfolios without first knowing which portfolios exist and which will
be abolished.
He said, “The President plans to cut
down the number of ministries and parastatals. He wants to cut down the
cost of running government. He wants to make sure that all the loopholes
that enable corruption to thrive are blocked. All these are procedures
that require time and careful planning. You cannot do it in a rush.
“Remember that he has to make sure that
all this is done without any job losses or mass retrenchments. All this
is not a day’s or one-month job.”
He added that Buhari could not have
realistically commenced the process of forming a cabinet without first
receiving the full report of the transition committee and ascertaining
exactly the situation his government faced.
The source also denied news reports
which stated that President Buhari’s lack of cabinet appointments had
grounded the government, insisting that civil servants had been
supervising the day-to-day running of ministries and that Permanent
Secretaries of the various ministries all have full access to the
President.
The source concluded by referring to the
current crisis in the National Assembly as one more reason why forming a
cabinet would be impossible until further notice.
“Look at how they are fighting among
themselves. The Senate has now adjourned till July 21. That means no one
to scrutinise or approve any ministerial list until the end of July,”
he submitted.
But when reminded that the Senate had
agreed to reconvene to consider the President’s ministerial nominees as
soon as such list was ready, the source asked our correspondent to await
the President’s intervention in the crisis between the party and the
National Assembly. “The President wants to walk his talk on stable
politics and being a leader for all. He has a plan for the National
Assembly,” he said.
When contacted on Sunday, the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba
Shehu, said the information at the disposal of The PUNCH was “not far
from the truth.”
“This narrative is the nearest to the
truth than all others that are being peddled around. It is not far from
the truth,” Shehu said.
Meanwhile, our correspondents learnt in
Abuja on Sunday that Buhari would adopt the recommendation of the Ahmed
Joda-led transition committee of the All Progressives Congress to prune
down the number of ministries to 19.
The PUNCH learnt that the President would appoint 19 senior ministers and 17 ministers of state as recommended by the Joda committee.
It was also learnt that besides adopting
the recommendation, the administration would place emphasis on the
appointment of technocrats to man some ministries, including education,
finance, works, housing and environment
The 18-man committee inaugurated on
April 27, 2015 to prepare the ground for Buhari’s inauguration on May
29, 2015 submitted its report on June 12.
There were 28 ministries and
corresponding number of ministers manning them under the immediate past
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Jonathan administration also appointed 14 ministers of state.
A reliable source, who is familiar with
the activities of the new administration, said the President, no doubt,
had accepted and had been working on the recommendations of the Joda
committee on the number of ministries to remain.
The source, who did not want to be named
as he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said though the
President had not made his proposed ministerial list open, the President
had not hidden it from top presidency officers, including the Vice
President, Yemi Osinbajo, that “the President will be guided by the Joda
committee’s report.”
The source said, “I can confirm that the
President is going to work with the recommendation of the Joda
committee, which means he will operate only 19 ministries to be manned
by 19 ministers.
“There will also be 17 ministers of
state so that the President will not run afoul of constitutional
requirement, which expects him to appoint ministers from all the 36
states of the federation.
“Top officers in the Presidency,
including Vice President Osinbajo, are aware that President Buhari is
going to adopt the 19-ministry recommendation.”
The Joda-led committee had recommended
that the new Buhari administration should operate only 19 ministries in
the spirit of cutting down the cost of governance.
The committee recommended that the
President should appoint only 19 senior ministers and 17 ministers of
state to fulfil the constitutional requirement that the ministers
constituting the Federal Executive Council must be drawn from the 36
states of the federation.
The Joda committee recommended 19 ministries, some of which would be products of merging of some of the existing ministries.
Those to be retained in their present
form are just nine- Trade, Industry and investment; Education; Defence;
Federal Capital Territory; Labour and Employment; Finance; Justice;
Foreign Affairs; and Budget and National Planning.
Others would either me merged or subsumed under others.
