“Ministers Are Noise Makers, Civil Servants Are the Real Workers” – President Buhari
The delay in the appointment of
ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari may not be unconnected with the
believe by the president that civil servants and technocrats are the
ones who do the job of governance more than the ministers.
Although the president said he intends
to stick with his decision to name his cabinet before the end of the
month, he however opined that ministers are only there to “make a lot of
noise”.
He stated this during an interview with French television station, France 24 on Wednesday.
Asked if the absence of a finance
minister was affecting the Nigerian capital market and economy, Buhari
said: “No. It is what we know –and which we learnt from the western
system. The civil service provides the continuity, the technocrat. And
in any case, they are those that do most of the work.”
“The ministers are there, I think, to
make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise. But the
work is being done by the technocrats. They are there; they have to
provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us, [those
of us] who are just coming in.”
“They have been there, some of them for
15 years, some for 20 years. So I think this question of ministers is
political. People from different constituencies want to see their people
directly in government, and see what they can get out of it.”
“As for the cabinet, I said we will have
one by the end of the month, and time flies. The end of the month is
coming too quickly for my liking.
“Yeah, I will stick to it. I will send the names to the national assembly.”
Reminded by his interviewer that “some
have quipped that the country runs better without ministers”, the
president said: “When you started introducing me, you said I was around
1983 to 1985. “Even then we had ministers. So under this system, we have
to have ministers; and we are going to have ministers.”
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