President Muhammadu Buhari on
Friday re-appointed Abba Kyari and Boss Mustapha as his chief of staff and
secretary to the government of the federation, respectively.
While these appointments were not
particularly surprising, they tell us a few things about Buhari’s next cabinet.
We takes a look at a few signs from the very recent past, and the current
situation of things.
THE MINISTERIAL TEAM AROUND THE
CORNER
A few weeks ago, Femi Adesina,
one of Buhari’s spokesperson, said Nigerians would not wait longer than
necessary for Buhari’s cabinet. An eminent Nigerian replied by saying Nigerians
have already waited longer than necessary.
This was relative to South
Africa’s presidential cabinet, which was unveiled 96 hours after Cyril Ramaphosa’s
inauguration as president. It has been one month and one week since President
Buhari was inaugurated but his ministerial team remains a mirage.
However, by Buhari’s own
standard, Nigeria may not have to wait for as long as the country did in his
first coming; in his first term, Buhari appointed his Cos and SGF on August 27,
2015 — three months after his inauguration.
This time around the president
made the same appointment on July 5, 2019 — a month after his inauguration.
Going by this timeline, Buhari’s second coming appointments are two months
earlier than his first. This means Nigerians may not have to wait till October
before getting the full ministerial list. Give or take; August, 2019.
DON’T RE-INVENT THE WHEEL
Buhari rode to power the first
time on a mandate of change. His first federal budget was dubbed the budget of
change. His ministers were the ministers to deliver change. But the president
likes things steady — change or not.
Yemi Kale. Godwin Emefiele. Uche
Orji. Segun Awolowo. And now, Abba Kyari and Boss Mustapha. President Buhari
does not like to fix whatever he believes is working, and these appointments
have just proven that.
As long as the president believes
an individual is working for him, and for the country — he believes you do not
have to re-invent the wheel. This tells us to expect familiar faces in Buhari’s
next cabinet.
QUICK FACT: Buhari is the first
Nigerian president since 1999 not to have re-jigged his cabinet in a four-year
tenure.
GARBA SHEHU REMAINS BUHARI’S MAN
Prior to the 2019 Presidential
elections, there were talks in the presidential circles that Garba Shehu, a
staunch Atiku Abubakar loyalist may be working for the former vice president.
Through the elections, Shehu
stayed with President Buhari, and campaign vigorously against his former boss,
who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer. Buhari won.
Guess what, Shehu was the one who
released a statement on Buhari’s latest appointment, signally that Shehu has
continued to act in his capacity as special assistant on media and publicity to
the president. Get used to Shehu, he is likely to be here for longer.
HAMMED ALI MAY REMAIN AT NCS
On August 27, 2015, when Buhari
appointed CoS and SGF, he also appointed Hameed Ali as comptroller-general, Nigerian customs service
and Ita Enang as SSA to the president on national assembly matters (senate).
This time around, both men were
not listed on the appointment. But for both men, this is also not a problem, as
both offices do not have stipulated terms of office in any Nigerian law. In
fact, the senate committee on customs said in 2013 that a customs CG has no
stipulated term of office.
Abdullahi Dikko, the former
customs CG, was in office for six years. Ali is yet to stay four years,
needless to speak of six. The customs boss as a Buhari ally may remain.
Ita Enang, on the other hand, has
continued to act as SSA, up until July 2019 — his continued place as SSA is
also at the discretion of the president.
MAY 29 REMAINS SACROSANCT
Did you notice that the latest
appointments were made with the clause: “appointments take effect from May 29,
2019”. Nigeria may have moved on to June 12 as democracy day, but the
transition will continue to be May 29.
New ministers will be ratified by
the national assembly as the law stipulates. Fear not, the appointment of new
ministers will not “take effect from May 29, 2019”.
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