Buhari’s ministers, an assessment

After a five month wait, Nigerians finally learned the make up of the team President Buhari wants to use to drive the promised change in Nigeria. Many of the names had been long speculated but there were plenty of surprises, especially with regards to the shake-up of the ministries.

First, from the reorganisation of ministries (and in some cases mandates), it appears Buhari has created 7 super ministries to drive his agenda. These are Budget-National Planning; Defence; Interior; Petroleum; Power-Works-Housing; Trade-Investment-Industry; and Transportation. The Ministry of Finance appears to be the victim of this reorganisation. Under the Jonathan administration, the Finance Minister was the de facto Prime Minister. Here, its mandate has been reduced considerably as follows:

• Budget office has been moved to Planning.
• Trade, Investment & Industry has been the ministry sourcing funds since Olusegun Aganga’s time, as is bound to continue in that vein since an expert, Enelamah, has been deployed there.
• Finance is unlikely to have full oversight over Customs since Buhari sent his trusted aide there with specific instructions to clean up the mess.

Download the report to read the full assessment.