Why it took time to constitute cabinet, by Buhari

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday gave insight into reasons why it took him time to constitute the Federal Executive Council. The President linked it to former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party’s unpreparedness for the outcome of the 2015 presidential election, as they didn’t put in place structures that will make the transition seamless.

Speaking at a Conference on Government Transition Framework for Nigeria, organized by the National Democratic Institute, in Abuja, with theme, ‘Strengthening Nigeria’s transition framework for democratic consolidation,’ President Buhari maintained that had a system been in place, real-time information would have been available to assist the incoming government to quickly settle down, form its cabinet and go about the business of governance.

He insisted that the inadequacy of the handover notes from the immediate past administration contributed in no small measure to the delay in constituting his cabinet, stressing that he needed to have a clear idea of what his administration was inheriting.

According to the President, “the country lacked an institutionalized transition system, the then ruling government simply did not know what to do and unpatriotic elements exploited the situation, which almost led to a national crisis.

“For the government led by a ruling party that had vowed to stay in power for 60 years in the first instance, they were not prepared for any transition that will not be from themselves to themselves. How can they, when they felt invincible, judging by their perceived strength and assumed popularity and the huge resources at their disposal? Our experience in the last transition process was unique, despite the fact that we have held many general elections and transitioned from one government to another.

“Indeed, the last election heralded the first real transition in the history of our nation, being the first time that an opposition party will sweep the ruling party out of power. This probably explains why the then ruling government was completely caught unawares by the outcome of the election,” he added.