President Muhammadu Buhari will on Wednesday August 21, swear in ministers into his new cabinet.

In a statement by Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babatunde Lawal, the swearing in will follow the induction retreat and swearing in programme for ministers-designate.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, listed objectives of the retreat to include: Build a strong platform for synergy and teamwork; Sensitise appointees on the status of the implementation of policies, programmes and projects of government from 2015-date; acquaint the appointees with roadmap for delivery of government’s priorities and next level agenda (2019-2023) and deepen the understanding of participants on best practices in conducting government business.

Mustapha, said aside ministers-designate, others expected at the retreat are Head of Civil Service of the Federation, federal permanent secretaries and top government functionaries.

Meanwhile the two -day induction retreat earlier scheduled for August 15-16, after the Sallah break, has been rescheduled for Monday, 19th – Tuesday, 20th.

The retreat will now be presided over by Mr Buhari.

Already, ministers designate have been asked to pick up and study documents (Status Report on Policies, Programmes and Projects; the 2019-2023 Road Map, FEC Handbook, etc), ahead of the retreat.

Buhari had on July 23 appointed a total of 43 ministers from the 36 states and Abuja.

Among the appointees are former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio; senior lawyer, Festus Keyamo; ex-Benue governor, George Akume; and 40 other nominees.

The president also retained Babatunde Fashola, Chris Ngige and a few other returnee ministers.

The appointments were made across the six geopolitical zones.

The nominees have since been cleared by Senate.

Sun