TheCable

Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to overhaul his cabinet.

Agbakoba, leader of the recently-formed National Intervention Movement (NIM), says the president is “sleeping on the job”.

Speaking on Thursday during a briefing on NIM’s agenda, the senior advocate of Nigeria said: “We want government to work for Nigerians. Presently, it does not. President Buhari needs to take his job seriously. He is sleeping on the job. He needs to sack his entire cabinet because they have failed.

“Why for instance has nobody been fired for Mainagate? What is government’s plan for unemployment? Seventy per cent of our young people are unemployed. It is alarming! What is the federal government’s plan for power?

“Should the privatisation process be reversed? Why is our bidding and procurement processes failing? Why is government still appropriating billions of naira for turnaround maintenance of dead refineries?”

Agbakoba said rather than groan and complain, the civil society and the media should “wrest power from this ruling political elite to achieve a new system that is inclusive and works for all and not a few”.

He lamented the situation whereby “politicians charged with corruption present themselves for public office in every election circle”.

The lawyer criticised the president’s appointment of ministers, describing some of them as unfit to handle their portfolios.

“We need to ask simple questions. If APC promised us ABCD, how many have they fulfilled? How many ministers are actually competent to deliver on their ministries? For instance, the good friend of mine Dr. Kayode Fayemi has no competence to be minister of mines because that’s not his background,” he said.

“What is the competence of another good friend, a nice chap and a successful man, Udo Udoma (SAN), to be the minister of budget when he is a lawyer? So, the President should be called upon to dismantle his cabinet and pick the right people because the best guys are not there.

“Another good friend Geoffrey Onyeama is an intellectual property lawyer. He has no competence to be a foreign minister, but he’s there. The federal cabinet lacks competence and that’s what’s causing our problem.”

Agbakoba had in August described the Muhammadu Buhari administration as a “non-performing government” that cannot attract foreign direct investment.