Nigeria's acting president has nominated the country's former junior oil minister and a Goldman Sachs banker to be in his new cabinet, according to a list of 33 nominees read out to the Senate for approval today.
The list of names - which did not give portfolios - consisted of nine members of the outgoing cabinet, including former junior oil minister Odein Ajumogobia, and new figures including Olusegun Aganga, a London-based managing director at Goldman Sachs.
There are more than 40 ministers in the cabinet and a second list is expected to follow for Senate approval. But outgoing oil minister Rilwanu Lukman and outgoing finance minister Mansur Muhtar were not among the names read out today.
"I forward herewith the names of the first batch of nominees for appointment as ministers of government . . . for the consideration and confirmation of the Senate," Senate President David Mark said before reading out the list.
Acting president Goodluck Jonathan sacked all government ministers last Wednesday in a bid to assert his authority a month after assuming executive powers, and the fast appointment of a new team could ease political uncertainty in Africa's most populous nation.
Other nominees from the outgoing team include former Information Minister Dora Akunyili, former Justice Minister Adetokunbo Kayode, former National Planning Minister Shamsuddeen Usman and former junior Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe.
Among the new nominees are Murtala Yar'Adua, a close relative of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, and Jubril Martins Kuye, a one-time junior finance minister under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mr Jonathan took over as acting head of state in early February, ending months of near-paralysis in government due to the absence of President Yar'Adua, who was receiving treatment for a heart ailment in a Saudi clinic.
Mr Yar'Adua has since returned but remains too sick to govern.
Reuters