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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated his new cabinet
on 21 August, appointing 43 ministers six months after he secured
his second and final term in the February 2019 presidential
election. Buhari appointed Timipre Sylva, former governor of
oil-rich Bayelsa state (2008-12), as minister of state for
petroleum (or deputy minister). The president retains overall
control of the petroleum ministry.
Sylva, who was arrested in 2013 by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of engaging in a suspected
NGN19-billion (USD53-million) fraud, replaces Emmanuel Ibe
Kachikwu. Silva has also been accused by civil society groups of
funding militants in the Niger Delta. He strongly denies this.
Others in the cabinet include Babatunde Fashola from Lagos state,
who has been given the works and housing portfolio. Fashola has
lost power from his portfolio in running the separate works and
housing ministry, instead of the erstwhile power, works, and
housing ministry.
Significance
The composition of Buhari's cabinet indicates a motivation to
mitigate divisions within his ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC) party, with some powerbrokers arguing that they have been
side-lined or overlooked in decision-making. It also comes in
response to criticisms of the government's slow economic
policy-making and decision-making, which has led to rising
inflation (which reached 11.4% in July) and unemployment.
The appointment of ruling party loyalists such as Fashola, as
well as close advisers from Buhari's northern stronghold of
support, such as chief of staff Abba Kyari and Mamman Daura, his
uncle, indicates that the government is trying to strengthen
patronage networks to deal with the party divisions. However, this
strategy likely will also undermine the president's ability to
bring his cabinet to order, thereby stalling the implementation of
the administration's policy manifesto.
The cabinet appointments signal the improbability of
implementing major reforms in the one-year outlook, including
dealing with corruption in the petroleum sector, such as illegal
oil bunkering, and reform of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, reducing liquidity challenges in the power sector,
rolling out various gas-to-power projects, eliminating imported
fuel subsidies, and overhauling the country's oil and gas legal
framework. An announcement of successful prosecutions by the EFCC
in its ongoing corruption investigations into the petroleum sector
would indicate that Buhari's government is sincerely committed to
dealing with graft.
Posted 05 September 2019 by Theo Acheampong, Ph.D., Senior Analyst Country Risk – Sub-Saharan Africa, IHS Markit
