Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba,has declared that Nigeria cannot afford the cost of having 36 ministers selected from across the 36 states of the federation.
Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, on Monday, June 22, stated that Nigeria in her present state cannot afford the cost of having 36 ministers selected from across the 36 states of the federation.
Agbakoba, who spoke on the provision in the constitution that stipulates that the president must choose ministers from each state of the federation and Abuja, stated that Nigeria, with her present economy, cannot afford the luxury of keeping 37 ministers.
To this end, he has called for the appointment of ministers to be on a zonal basis from the six-geo political zones of the country.
“Yes, I support the idea of having just 19 ministers. Nigeria cannot afford 36 ministers and all we need to do is creatively appoint ministers from a balanced zonal spread and they will have concurrent accreditation to represent absent states,” he said.
It will be recalled that the Ahmed Joda-led Transition Committee has recommended a small government which entails pruning the number of ministers from 42 to 19.
The committee recommended that Buhari should have only 19 senior ministers, while 17 (junior) ministers of state should be appointed, bringing the total to 36, in line with the constitutional provision of one minister per state.