Buhari to Swear in New Ministers August 21

By Olawale Ajimotokan

President Muhammadu Buhari will on August 21 swear in all the 43 Ministers-Designate, a statement by the Permanent Secretary Cabinet Affairs Office, Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Babatunde Lawal, said on Tuesday.

Lawal said the swearing in of all ministers-designate will hold at the Federal Executive Council Chamber at the Presidential Villa.

The Permanent Secretary said attendance at the event was mandatory and strictly by invitation.

The statement also emphasised that the swearing in ceremony would be preceded by a two-day induction retreat for the ministers-designate, which will be presided over by President Buhari.

The ministerial designees had already been notified about the earlier publicised retreat by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

But the statement said the retreat was now billed to hold on August 19- 20 at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to Lawal, also invited for the retreat were the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, and all Federal Permanent Secretaries and other top government functionaries.

The objectives of the retreat include to build a strong platform for synergy and teamwork, to sensitise appointees on the status of the implementation of policies, programmes and projects of government from 2015 to date, to acquaint the appointees with the roadmap for delivery of government’s priorities and next level agenda (2019-2023) and to deepen the understanding of participants on best practices in conducting government business.