‘I’ll appoint ministers in September,’ President confirms

President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed that he’ll not be appointing ministers into his cabinet until September 2015.

Buhari also said that the process cannot be rushed despite criticisms on the pace of his administration.

The President made the comments in an opinion article published on The Washington Post today, July 20, 2015.

Buhari wrote:

“When cabinet ministers are appointed in September, it will be some months after I took the oath of office.”

“It is worth noting that Obama himself did not have his full Cabinet in place for several months after first taking office; the United States did not cease to function in the interim.”

“In Nigeria’s case, it would neither be prudent nor serve the interests of sound government to have made these appointments immediately on my elevation to the presidency; instead, Nigeria must first put new rules of conduct and good governance in place.”

“I cannot stress how important it is to ensure that this process is carried out correctly, just as it has been crucial to first install the correct leadership of the military and security services before we fully take the fight to Boko Haram.”

It had earlier been reported that the President would not appoint ministers till Septemberdue to his determination to repair the rotten foundation which had been left behind by the past administration.

Recent reports also had it that Buhari was forced to stall the appointment of ministers after 33 of his 36 nominees failed a corruption litmus test.

The Nigerian President is currently in the US for a meeting with President Barack Obama.

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Watch video of Buhari's inaugural speech below: