Buhari may not list ministers till Sept

Firstclass newsline~A source very close to the President confided in
firstclass newsline 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 a source 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.
Firstclass newsline 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.
Firstclassnewsline.net