President Muhammadu Buhari is likely to
keep the oil portfolio for himself in the new
Nigerian cabinet, rather than trust anyone
else with the source of most of Nigeria’s
revenue and traditional fount of corruption,
associates say.
Nigeria’s oil sector is so dirty that nobody’s
hands are clean enough to do the “surgical
changes” needed, one long-standing
associate told Reuters on condition of
anonymity because the cabinet decision is
still under wraps.
Another political associate said: “He will do
it. It would be silly to give that position to
anyone else.”
The first source said Buhari has still not
settled on his cabinet and has laughed off
media speculation about figures he will
appoint, joking with friends as he read out a
newspaper article that mentioned possible
names: “They have picked my ministers for
me! Have I even told you who I want?”
A former general who ruled Nigeria 30
years ago, Buhari has extensive knowledge
of the oil sector, having been head of the
Petroleum Trust Fund under military ruler
Sani Abacha in the 1990s and oil minister in
the 1970s under Olusegun Obasanjo.
He was voted in by Nigerians on an anti-
corruption platform after years in which
graft appeared to worsen under the
leadership of his predecessor Goodluck
Jonathan.
Buhari sent a list of 15 special advisors to
the outgoing national assembly for approval
on Tuesday, but the cabinet is unlikely to be
publicly revealed until the end of July or
early August.
The senate, which must confirm the
cabinet, will convene only briefly on June 9
before its members are expected to go on
recess for up to six weeks.
“It’s going to be a lean government, I doubt
he’ll have 42 ministries like Jonathan but he
must have at least 36 (for the number of
states) as prescribed by the constitution,
though it does not specify whether they
have to be senior or junior,” an advisor in
the ruling APC party told Reuters.
The new administration had not yet gone
through reports on Jonathan’s handover
notes on policy, the advisor said.
“There is a huge body of proposals being
bandied around the place,” the advisor said,
adding that nothing beyond broad strokes
had been outlined.
TASK AHEAD IN THE OIL SECTOR
Jonathan has left Buhari with a cash-
strapped government, with a rainy-day
fund so depleted that it must borrow just to
cover salaries.
The government relies on oil sales for the
bulk of its revenues but there has been little
oversight on how these are handled.
Former central bank governor Lamido
Sanusi was sacked under Jonathan after he
declared that some $20 billion in oil
revenues were missing between 2012 and
2013.
The dealings inside the state owned
company NNPC are so opaque that
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, commissioned to
do a forensic audit over the missing funds,
said it was unable to obtain enough account
documentation.
Not only is oil money stolen through
accounting gymnastics and oversight gaps,
but oil itself goes missing at unmetered
oilfield well heads, pipeline taps and export
terminals.
Pipeline protection and coastal inspection
contracts have been given to ex-militants of
the oil-producing delta who kidnapped
foreign oil workers and blew up key
infrastructure until a 2009 amnesty. Buhari
plans to let the 60 billion naira-a-year
amnesty program end in December as
scheduled to save money and it is unclear
what he will fund in its place.
The new leader has also made clear that he
wants to revamp Nigeria’s refining sector,
which declined while the country became
dependent on imports for fuel.
“He’s emotionally attached to the refineries
because he built some of them. He wants
them to start functioning again,” the APC
source said.
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