Cabinet of Nigeria

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The Cabinet of Nigeria is the Executive Branch of the Government of Nigeria. The Cabinet members are appointed by the President and report to the President. The Cabinet oversees 19 Federal Ministries, each responsible for some aspect of providing government services, as well as a number of parastatals (government-owned corporations).

Relationship to Civil Service

The ministries and parastatals are staffed by career civil servants. Each is headed by a Permanent Secretary, a senior civil servant appointed by the Head of the Civil Service. The Permanent Secretary is accountable to a Minister, who sits in the Cabinet and reports to the President. The Minister is appointed by the President subject to approval by the Senate and is responsible for policy, while the Permanent Secretary is responsible for implementation of policy.[1]

Ministers and Ministers of State

By convention, there must be one Cabinet member from each of the 36 states in Nigeria, although there are only 19 ministries and at times a Federal minister is responsible for more than one ministry (e.g. Environment and Housing), or the President takes direct control of a key ministry such as Petroleum Resources. To ensure representation from each state, a Minister is often assisted by one or more Ministers of State.[2]

For example, in the new Cabinet announced by President Goodluck Jonathan on 8 April 2010, Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga of Edo State was Minister of Finance while Aderemi Babalola of Oyo State was Minister of State for Finance; Diezani Alison-Madueke of Rivers State was Minister of Petroleum Resources, with no Minister of State; Adetokunbo Kayode of Ondo State was Minister of Defence with Murtala Shehu Yar'Adua of Katsina State as Minister of State for Defence; and so on.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Permanent Secretaries". Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  2. ↑ "Government Ministries in Nigeria". Commonwealth of Nations. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  3. ↑ Daniel Idonor (8 April 2010). "New Cabinet Brings Aso-Rock Alive Again". Vanguard (Nigeria). Retrieved 2011-05-27.