Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is to take personal charge of the country’s crucial oil portfolio, his spokesman said on Tuesday, as a deadline loomed for him to finally nominate his cabinet.

Reports from New York, where Buhari has been attending the UN General Assembly, quoted the president as saying he would be minister of petroleum resources, with a junior minister taking charge of day-to-day affairs in the sector.

“Confirmed. He said so,” his spokesman Femi Adesina told AFP in a text message, without giving further details.
Buhari, 72, took office on May 29 after a landmark election victory against Goodluck Jonathan — the first time an opposition candidate has unseated an incumbent in the country’s history.

The former military ruler has vowed that corruption and the corrupt will have no place in his government and vetting of potential candidates has been seen as delaying his appointment of a senior ministerial team.

Buhari has made tackling the rot in the oil sector a priority, as he seeks to cut endemic graft and put the country’s crippled, crude-dependent finances on a firmer footing.

Nigeria — Africa’s number one crude producer and biggest economy — has been hit badly by a slump in global crude prices since last year, squeezing government revenue.

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