Why we delayed cabinet list, by Buhari

President pledges sound policy implementation
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday defended his administration’s delay in constituting his cabinet, attributing it to the late submission of handover notes to his administration by the previous administration.

Despite the delay, he said his administration has decided, in line with the policy thrust enunciated in the manifesto of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to bring in the desired change into governance, ensure that due diligence was followed in shortlisting the names of Nigerians that would help him steer the ship of the nation.

Buhari’s declaration is coming hours after he submitted the first batch of 21 names of ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, four months after his inauguration as the fourth elected President.

In a nationwide radio and television broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 55th independence anniversary in Abuja yesterday, Buhari acknowledged the “anxiety and impatience” of Nigerians towards his administration’s apparent delay in constituting the cabinet, but noted with delight that the waiting game was over with his sending the first batch of the nominees to the Senate, with a promise that subsequent ones would soon follow.

In his words: “There have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over.
“Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes.

Anyway, the wait is over. The first set of names for ministerial nominees for confirmation has been sent to the senate. Subsequent lists will be forwarded in due course. Impatience is not a virtue. Order is more vital than speed. Careful and deliberate decisions after consultations get far better results. And better results for our country is what the APC government for change is all about.”

In an address, which lasted for about 12 minutes, the President outlined the policy objectives of his administration, especially as they relate to power and petroleum, the President said deliberate steps have been taken to rejuvenate the economy
On the political front, the President assured Nigerians that his government was not out to witch hunt anybody, insisting however, that offenders of the law would not be spared. In addition, he said he had no intention of persecuting anybody but said all must be ready to account for their deeds.

Borrowing from his now famous ‘I belong to nobody’ inaugural speech on May 29, Buhari said, “I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view, to join me in working for the nation.”

The President said the citizens needed to celebrate notwithstanding the situation in the country, thou he regretted that we had not fully exploited unity of purpose as a nation blessed with vast human and natural resources.
Buhari told Nigerians: “We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is unity of purpose.

This would have enabled us to achieve not only more orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and economic progress.”

Buhari was happy that Nigeria had witnessed change in the democratic development, this year, where an opposition party uprooted a party that had been entrenched in power in a free and fair was an indicative of deer roots of democratic system. But he attributed the development to his successor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who he said refused to dig in, even in the face of defeat in the March 28 Presidential polls.

According to him, “Whatever one’s views are, Nigerians must thank former President Goodluck Jonathan for not digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the country untold consequences,”

The President, in his review of his government’s five months in office, acknowledged Nigerians’ expectation for the government to hit the ground running and that he had taken some steps to meet such expectations.
Buhari said: “Every new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of problems inherited.
A
ccordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems, which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections and since then.

The President said government officials had held a series of long sessions on the best way to improve the nation’s power supply “in the safest and most cost effective way” and that a moderate improvement in electricity supply had been achieved.
The President said improvement had also been noted in the supply of petrol and kerosene to the public and that early signs indicated that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.
Buhari also said preliminary steps had been taken to sanitize the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to curb its inefficiency and corruption.

The President said that he had also ordered the complete audit of government’s other revenue generating agencies, mainly the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Communications Commission to achieve better service delivery to the nation.

The President’s address further read, “Prudent housekeeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that is important.