(AFP)Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is to take personal charge of
\nthe country’s crucial oil portfolio, his spokesman said on Tuesday, as a
\ndeadline loomed for him to finally nominate his cabinet.<\/p>\n
Reports from New York, where Buhari has been attending the UN General
\nAssembly, quoted the president as saying he would be minister of petroleum
\nresources, with a junior minister taking charge of day-to-day affairs in
\nthe sector.<\/p>\n
“Confirmed. He said so,” his spokesman Femi Adesina told AFP in a text
\nmessage, without giving further details.<\/p>\n
Buhari, 72, took office on May 29 after a landmark election victory
\nagainst Goodluck Jonathan — the first time an opposition candidate has
\nunseated an incumbent in the country’s history.<\/p>\n
The former military ruler has vowed that corruption and the corrupt will
\nhave no place in his government and vetting of potential candidates has
\nbeen seen as delaying his appointment of a senior ministerial team.<\/p>\n
Buhari has made tackling the rot in the oil sector a priority, as he seeks
\nto cut endemic graft and put the country’s crippled, crude-dependent
\nfinances on a firmer footing.<\/p>\n
Nigeria — Africa’s number one crude producer and biggest economy — has
\nbeen hit badly by a slump in global crude prices since last year,
\nsqueezing government revenue.<\/p>\n
Oil accounts for some 90 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.<\/p>\n
The president has vowed to recover “mind-boggling” sums of stolen oil
\ncash, starting with a drastic overhaul of state-run oil firm the Nigerian
\nNational Petroleum Company (NNPC).<\/p>\n
The NNPC has become a byword for corruption and last year was accused of
\nfailing to remit $20 billion in revenue to the central bank.<\/p>\n
Buhari helped establish the NNPC in 1977 as oil minister under military
\nruler General Olusegun Obasanjo.<\/p>\n
He was later in charge of the Petroleum Trust Fund during the time of
\nGeneral Sani Abacha in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Buhari’s caution in appointing ministers has seen him nicknamed “Baba Go
\nSlow” in Nigeria, but he has promised to name his cabinet by Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Appointments have to be approved by parliament, which resumed sitting on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
A committee advising Buhari on policy before he took office has
\nrecommended he streamlines the number of ministries and ministers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(AFP)Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is to take personal charge of the country’s crucial oil portfolio, his spokesman said on Tuesday, as a deadline loomed for him to finally nominate his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n