Why President will head petroleum ministry for 18 months

President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that he will be in charge of the Ministry of Petroleum for 18 months before appointing a minister.

Buhari made the disclosure during a recent meeting with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to a source who was present at the meeting, the president intends to run the ministry by himself in order to sanitize it and rid it of corruption.

“At the meeting we had recently, we discussed the issues of portfolios and other matters,” the President said he was going to handle the Ministry of Petroleum himself for about 18 months," the source said.

“He said it was after this that he would appoint a substantive minister for the ministry. He said he would only personally handle the reorganisation of the much-important ministry. Besides, he said the ministry needed to be reformed and be rid of corruption. He promised to sanitize the ministry," he added.

Buhari is expected to appoint ministers into his cabinet in September.