3 shocking compromises Buhari made in appointing this minister

While cherry-picking his ministers for the second term he just won, President Muhammadu Buhari said he didn’t know many of those he appointed from Adam—in his first term.

He vowed to choose with his eyes open this time.

Whatever due diligence he did ended up just so-so. The new cabinet crawls with all sorts, many Nigerians say.

Among them is his defence minister who scarcely passes any integrity or competence test–on these three counts:

1. Defence Minister Bashir Magashi, at 74, is the oldest in Buhari’s cabinet, which somehow makes the minster the rustiest for such a demanding portfolio, having left military service more than two decades ago.

2. Magashi served the most corrupt government in Nigeria’s history—the late President Sani Abacha’s—where he squirreled away $550,000 at the Jersey, UK, branch of Bank PNP Paribus, according to the Premium Times.

3. Bone-old and corrupt, Magashi, now as Buhari’s defence minister, has the third largest allocation—N159.13bn—of the 2019 budget to fool with.