Buhari appoints self as oil minister

WITH the unveiling of members of the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday, President President Muhammadu Buhari has finally confirmed himself as the de facto Minister of Petroleum.

This became obvious with the conspicuous absence of substantive minister for the ministry during the swearing in of new ministers in Abuja yesterday. He will be assisted by the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Ibe Kachikwu‎ who is now Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

Buhari, having been head of the Petroleum Trust Fund under the military leadership of the late Sani Abacha, and the oil minister under Olusegun Obasanjo, the former head of state has extensive knowledge of the oil sector.

Similarly, with the swearing-in of 24 senior ministers and 12 junior ministers, the ministries of police affairs, aviation and special duties appear to have been scrapped while ministries of Lands, Housing, Urban Development and Works have been merged to become Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

Some of the key ministers sworn-in yesterday included former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola who is now the Minister of Power, Work and Housing.  Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi is Mini‎ster for Transport while General Abdul Rahaman Danbazau is minister for Interior.

Others are Kemi Adeosun (Ogun) who now handles the ministry of Finance; Munmsur Mohammed Dan Ali is the Minister for Defence while Dr Kayode Fayemi is the Minister for Solid Minerals.

Adamu Adamu is Minister of Education ‎while Mohammed Musa Bello is the minister of the Federal Capital Territory while Abubakar Malami (Kebbi) is the new Justice Minister

Chief Audu Ogbe is the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development while Mrs Aisha Alhassan is the Minister for Women ‎Affairs. Chris Ngige (Anambra)–Labour and Employment, Aisha Alhassan (Taraba)–Women Affairs, Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi)–Science and Technology, Hadi Sirika (Katsina)–State for Aviation, Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa)–Water Resources.

Solomon Dalong (Plateau)–Youths and Sports, Ibeh Kachikwu (Delta)–State for Petroleum, Osagie Ehanire (Edo)–State for Health, Udo Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom)–Budget and National Planning, Lai Mohammed (Kwara)–Information, Amina Mohammed (Gombe)–Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa)— State for Environment, Anthony Onwuka (Imo) – State for Education, Adamu Adamu (Bauchi) — Education, Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia) – Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar (Sokoto) — State for Trade, Industry and Investment

Others are Khadija Bukar Abba (Yobe) – State for Foreign Affairs, Claudius Daramola (Ondo) – State for Niger Delta, Geoffrey Onyeama (Enugu) — Foreign Affairs, James Ocholi (Kogi) – State for Labour, Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna) – State for Budget and National Planning, Mustapha Shehuri (Borno) — State for Power, Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa)–State for Agriculture, Isaac Adewole Folorunsho (Osun) — Health, Usani Usani Uguru (Cross River) — Niger Delta, Abubakar Bwari Bawa (Niger) — State for Solid Minerals and Adebayo Shittu (Oyo) –Communications.