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Nigeria - President Buhari’s Cabinet
africapractice
Nigeria - President Buhari’s Cabinet
On Wednesday 11 th November 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Federal Executive Council and announced the portfolios of the 36 Ministers that had
recently been vetted by the Senate. With the announcement, the number of federal ministries has effectively been reduced to 25 following the merging of several ministries,
with several new Ministers deputising as Ministers of State rather than running their own portfolios. The President also appointed 18 new permanent secretaries to replace
those who had been retired the previous day.
It has taken Buhari more than five months to put his first cabinet in place, prompting accusations of policy drift and ineffectual leadership. However, Buhari has defended
his actions by asserting both that state ministries were being well managed by permanent secretaries in the interim, and that he needed time to ensure he found the right
candidates to realize his reform ambitions. Foreign investors have welcomed the cabinet’s unveiling, hoping that it will serve to clarify the federal government’s policy on key
issues, and drive development across the economy.
Key takeaways
• The cabinet represents a genuine drive to improve public sector
governance, reflecting a core ambition of Buhari’s presidency.
By streamlining portfolios and appointing competent technocrats
to strategic ministries, the President has sought to introduce a
government apparatus that is efficient and manageable. The less
high-profile appointments are generally made up either of trusted
loyalists or prominent figures who provide the right balance of
ethno-regional representation. Performance among this group of
individuals is likely to be more variable.
• Although Buhari is likely to delegate considerable powers
across the ministries, the president’s office will remain central
to strategic decision-making. Decisions to date have been fairly
centralized, and Buhari will continue to work through a network of
close advisers to oversee key government portfolios. His decision
to retain strategic oversight of the petroleum ministry is a clear
indication of his intention to personally oversee reforms in the most
important areas of the economy. These dynamics could generate
personal and institutional rifts, not just with ministers but with
other key bodies such as state governments and the legislature.
• The government’s anti-corruption drive will continue unabated in the short term.
This was a key tenet of Buhari’s electoral victory and will continue to resonate across political
and business circles. Despite accusations of politicization, the high-level commitment to
tackling graft and reducing the losses and leakages in Nigeria’s political system is a positive
development. Following the dismissal of the head of the country’s main anti-corruption body,
a heavy-hitting appointment is now expected. The anti-corruption drive will continue to
create turbulence in the business landscape, underlining the need for strong understanding
of local partners and implementation of effective anti-bribery and -corruption policies.
• Despite the positive governance trajectory, Buhari’s reform agenda will be diluted
by three key factors. Firstly, political infighting within the APC and across party lines
will generate dysfunction and unhealthy competition that undermines policy-making,
particularly in the legislature. Secondly, vested interests within the political and business
landscape will continue to block or disrupt reform efforts, posing a persistent barrier to
progress. Lastly, the enormous economic and security challenges that Nigeria faces in the
coming months will shackle the government’s ability to bring about real change, while
broader capacity constraints across public administration will also hinder prospects for
radical progress. The economic downturn provides a unique opportunity to reform public
structures and improve governance, but it also starves the government of much-needed
funding, and external financing may well be sought to plug the gap.
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