President Buhari and the Incomplete Team Syndrome

On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed new chief executive officers for six parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. The appointees were to occupy positions that had been vacant since the disengagement of their previous occupants on February 15, when the government sacked the heads of several federal agencies and parastatals.

Wednesday’s appointments filled only a fraction of critical positions that have remained empty since July 16 last year, when Buhari ordered the dissolution of the governing boards of federal parastatals, agencies and institutions. On the foreign scene also, several ambassadorial positions, even in countries critical to Nigeria’s foreign plocy, have remained empty since July 10 last year, when ambassadors and high commissioners appointed by the immediate past administration were recalled.

Nearly one year after his assumption of office, Buhari has operated with an incomplete team. Many important government organs critical to the realisation of his domestic and foreign policies have been without substantive heads and supporting boards, with all the attendant problems for accountability.

The delay in the composition of the full governmental teams has also given room for ignominious allegations and rumours, like the one recently about a job scandal in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Buhari should make haste to constitute the complete team needed to pursue his government’s goals.