President Bola Tinubu has a constitutional mandate of establishing offices of ministers and nominees for the offices shall be confirmed by the Nigerian Senate.
Development Diaries reports that based on Section 147 of the 1999 Constitution, Tinubu is bound to appoint at least one minister from each state who shall be an indigene of such state.
The ministers are expected to assist the president to administer the government, especially with regard to the implementation of government policies.
However, during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians raised critical issues surrounding the underwhelming performances of some ministers.
As Tinubu settles into his new role, here are five mistakes he must avoid to accomplish his mission.
- Late appointment of ministers
It took Buhari nearly six months in 2015 to make his decision on ministers. In fact, the new president at the time was unmoved by criticisms.
‘Impatience is not a virtue’, he said in his response to critics.
But the long delay in setting up his administration did not inspire confidence in his government, especially within the business environment, and President Tinubu must ensure he avoids this costly mistake by laying down the marker on time.
2. Appointment of incompetent ministers
One thing that was evident in the previous administration was Buhari’s appointment of incompetent ministers.
This was clearly seen in the performance of the former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who also admitted that he knew nothing about the sector when he was appointed.
To further prove this point, in 2019, when Rauf Aregbesola was appointed Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, he admitted that he knew little about the policies and operations of the ministry, adding that all he knew about the ministry was what he read in the newspapers.
Therefore, we hope that President Tinubu would appoint ministers based on relevant skills and experience and not only focus on repaying political allies.
3. Retaining underperforming ministers
Many of Buhari’s ministers did not live up to the expectations of Nigerians. There were many misfits in the former president’s cabinet that were not removed.
For example, former Minister of Education, Adamu, who admitted his failure to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country, ought to have been sacked by Buhari.
We urge Tinubu to ensure that when a minister is underperforming, they should be replaced with a more competent Nigerian.
4. Appointing ministers without portfolios
Buhari, at different times, presented lists of ministers to the Senate for confirmation without portfolios, and the lawmakers were ‘forced’ to screen ministers by mere guesswork.
We urge Tinubu to attach portfolios to his ministerial list as this will help the senators to screen the nominees in line with their prospective duties.
5. Appointing himself as minister
Buhari appointed himself as Minister of Petroleum Resources, a step he said was taken as part of efforts to sanitise the country’s oil sector, which was said to be bedevilled by corruption, massive fraud and crude oil theft.
Unfortunately, after his eight-year administration, Nigeria’s four refineries are still moribund, and oil theft is still thriving in the sector.
The new president should avoid the same mistake in order to allow him to focus on the huge task before him.
Photo source: Bola Ahmed Tinubu
