No ministers in the next 2 months – Source

President Muhammadu Buhari may not be appointing any cabinet members within the next two months, a credible source said yesterday. Speaking in an off-the-record chat with a set of journalists in Abuja, the source said that President Buhari was reluctant to build on a “rotten foundation” he inherited from the PDP administration. The source who […]

President Muhammadu Buhari may not be appointing any cabinet members within the next two months, a credible source said yesterday.
Speaking in an off-the-record chat with a set of journalists in Abuja, the source said that President Buhari was reluctant to build on a “rotten foundation” he inherited from the PDP administration.
The source who is close to the President, but who is not authorised to speak publicly regarding the issue said:  “You cannot even begin to imagine the situation we have met on the ground.” 
He added: “Almost everything is in a state of decay. There is absolutely no way the new government can hope to achieve anything long-lasting without first building a new foundation.”
The source likened President Buhari’s plan of action to that of a doctor who first has to break a poorly set bone afresh, before resetting it to allow for smooth and proper growth.
Over the past week, Buhari has come under criticism from various quarters for his delay in appointing ministers one month since his inauguration. 
Responding to this criticism, the source pointed out that it would be impossible to appoint ministers to portfolios, without first knowing which portfolios exist and which will be abolished. 
“The president plans to cut down the number of ministries and parastatals,” he said.
“He wants to cut down the cost of running government. He wants to make sure that all the loopholes that enable corruption to thrive are blocked.
“All these are procedures that require time and careful planning. You cannot do it in a rush.”
He added that President Buhari could not realistically have begun this process without first receiving the full report of the transition committee and ascertaining exactly the situation his government faced.
“Remember that he has to make sure that all this is done without any job losses or mass retrenchments,” he said, adding, “all this is not a day’s or one-month’s job.”
The source also denied news reports  that the absence of such ministers had grounded government’s activities.
He said civil servants had been supervising the day-to-day running of ministries and that Permanent Secretaries of the various ministries all had full access to the President. 
“All these reports and agitations are being fuelled by politicians who want to put pressure on the President.”
“They have tried doing it other ways and those haven’t worked. Now, they are trying to use the media. They only want their cronies appointed to Ministerial posts anyhow and they are fuelling the agitation through newspapers,” he said.
He advised the Nigerian media not to fall for the old tricks and shenanigans of politicians. 
The source concluded by referring to the current crisis in the National Assembly, which he argued could help explain why forming a cabinet would be impossible until further notice. 
“Look at how they are fighting among themselves,” he said. “The Senate has now adjourned till July 21. That means no one to scrutinise or approve any ministerial list until the end of July.”
Reminded that the Senate has agreed to reconvene to consider the president’s ministerial nominees as soon as such list was ready, the source asked the reporters to await the President’s long-awaited intervention in the crisis between the party and the National Assembly. “The President wants to walk his talk on stable politics and being a leader for all. He has a plan for the National Assembly,” he said.
Contacted on this issue, Buhari’s spokesmen, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu said this narrative was the nearest to the truth than all that were being peddled by many others.
Speaking on the level of decay in the country recently in an interview with Daily Trust, the chairman of the Buhari transition committee Malam Ahmed Joda said his committee found corruption everywhere.
He said Nigeria should be ready to face a lot of challenges. “The biggest in my view is corruption; it is everywhere. There is no department, no ministry that can be said to be free of corruption. There is nowhere that fraud does not take place on a daily basis. It has become embedded in the minds of the people because the rule books have been thrown away and everybody is doing what they like.”
He said the PDP government left behind a system where “nobody follows the rules anymore. You employ people anyhow and pay them anyhow and I think you in the media have a fairly idea of what is going on and are surprised how bad things are.”
“I often wondered, since the beginning of this exercise, if the PDP and president Jonathan had won the election what would have been the fate of Nigeria. It would have been more difficult for them to face the challenge because they had been telling people that everything was good; the roads are good,” Joda said.