Kano, Kaduna get the lion’s share, Amaechi, Fashola lose ministries — highlights of Buhari’s cabinet

President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated his cabinet 84 days after taking the oath of office for a second term.

The ministers were sworn in alongside the secretary to the government of the federation, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

We bring you the interesting details from the new cabinet:

BUHARI STILL IN CHARGE OF PETROLEUM SECTOR

Buhari retained his position as the minister of petroleum resources, a position he has held since 2015. He named Timipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa, as his subordinate (minister of state for petroleum). Ibe Kachukwu, who was in that role, did not make it to the new cabinet.

FIVE NEW MINISTRIES 

The cabinet features new ministries — no wonder the president had named 43 ministers, seven more than the previous cabinet. The new ministries are police affairs; power; special duties and international affairs; aviation; humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development which comes amid Nigeria’s grievous humanitarian crisis — the country has battled Boko Haram for 10 years and has an estimated 2.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

Two ministries were, however, merged ministry of finance and budget and national planning.

THE FORMER CABINET MEMBERS WHO RETAINED SIMILAR ROLES

All the 13 ministers from the old cabinet are to continue with the portfolios they had in the old cabinet except for Babatunde Fashola, Osagie Ehanire, Rotimi Amaechi and Zainab Ahmed whose roles were slightly changed. While power was removed from Fashola’s brief, and aviation carved out of Amaechi’s transportation, Ehanire was elevated from minister of state of health to the minister of health while Ahmed’s ministry was expanded. 

TWO MINISTERS ELEVATED

Two of the 13 re-appointed  ministers were elevated from their ranks as ministers of state.

While Osagie Enahire who was formerly minister of state for health is now in charge of the health ministry, Hadi Sirika, the former minister of state for aviation, now sits over the newly introduced aviation ministry which was under the ministry of transportation.

WHAT ARE THE NEWCOMERS UP TO?

The new cabinet features some not-so-popular names on the political scene including Mariam Katagum, Clement Agba and Isa Ali Pantami, but only one of them was appointed to oversee a ministry with others coming in as subordinates.

Pantami takes charge as minister of communication while Katagum and Agba were named minister of state for industry, trade and investment, and minister of state for budget and national planning respectively.

KADUNA, KANO WITH KEY MINISTRIES

Kaduna and Kano representatives in the new cabinet got juicy ministries. Zainab Ahmed and Mohammed Mahmoud, both from Kaduna state, emerged ministers of finance and environment respectively, while Sabo Nanono and Bashir Magashi from Kano state were named ministers of agriculture and rural development respectively.