President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have rescinded his earlier statement that some ministers in his government will not get a portfoliobecause his government cannot afford to pay forty two ministers.Buhari while in India had said that some ministers would only sit in the cabinet in order to obey the constitutional provision which specifies that each state of the federation must have a representative in the government.
However, Garba Shehu, the presidential aide, in the telephone interview to Daily Trust stated that all the 36 would be ministers screened will be assigned with portfolios.
He explained that what President Buhari meant was that not all the ministers would have full control of the ministries.
Shehu said the leader of the nation would recall the structure in which there are functional ministers and ministers of state.
The presidential aide added that it is not possible to have a more ministries than the number of ministers.
“You know we have a structure of government in place in this country whereby there are substantive ministers and ministers of state,” he said.
“What the president meant (in the interview granted) was that not all the ministers in his cabinet will have the full control of the ministries. You know it is not possible to have the number of ministries more than the number of ministers. Even former President Goodluck Jonathan had 28 ministries and 42 ministers.
“So, what the president meant was that some of his cabinet members would be ministers of state.”
“But not all of them (the ministers) will have the full command of the ministries”.
However, the president was reported to have revealed in the interview that Nigeria would be lucky if his government is able to have half the number of the 42 ministers that operated under the last government.
The presidential source recently disclosed that Buhari may inaugurate his ministers on November 4, Wednesday.
At the same time Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, said the president could communicate when to inaugurate his cabinet.
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