President might scrap 12 ministries

According to reports, President Muhammadu Buhari might be planning to retain only 19 of Nigeria’s 31 ministries.

Buhari might scrap 12 ministries in a bid to reduce the country’s astronomical cost of governance, The Guardian reports.

Buhari, according to The Guardian, is convinced that he would not be able to deliver on promises made to Nigerians without shedding the weight of the federal bureaucracy and he number of ministries and agencies of government that consume more than 70 per cent of the federal budget.

In the new arrangement, some ministries might also be merged as follows:

·         Ministry of Interior (to include Police Affairs)

·         Ministry of Transportation (to include Works, Aviation, Railways, Waterways/Transport

·         Agriculture & Water Resources, etc.

·         Ministry of Information, Youth Development & Culture

·         Ministry of Trade, Investment & Tourism, etc.

Some of the ministries which might be scrapped include the Niger Delta Ministry, which may be replaced with the Ministry for Regional Development and the ministries of Women Affairs and Special Duties might also be scrapped.

Buhari was sworn in on Friday, May 29, 2015.