Issues bordering on accountability, security, economy and job creation, will top discussions as President Muhammadu Buhari holds a maiden two-day retreat for incoming ministers beginning today.
BusinessDay exclusively gathered that issues on ethics will likewise be discussed at the meeting, where facilitators have been invited to speak to the new cabinet members on rising inflation, zero-budgeting, Treasury Single Account (TSA) and unstable power.
The retreat will take place at the old banquet hall of the State House Abuja, and is mainly to enlighten the incoming ministers on the code of ethics of the President Muhammadu Buhari led government, it was learnt.
A statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed that the retreat will kick off, Wednesday evening (arrival and registration) at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media , told BusinessDay that the specific areas of discussion would be those that highlight the main objectives of Buhari’s administration, including, security, economic revitalisation, diversification of the economy, prudence, cutting cost, generation more revenue, job creation and anti corruption.
“The current ministries are going to be merged, so the discussion will include also what it would look like and the changes involved in reducing the ministries to ensure they know their responsibilities,” Laolu noted.
He said the retreat was important “because this is the formation of the cabinet of change. Issues of zero budgeting will be one of the issues discussed. We are now having a policy based budget, long term budgeting, which we used to have in the 70s and 80s, and we are going to have a number of new policy instruments added to governance.
“Generally this is the President’s management team, so it is important that at the beginning of playing their roles, they come together to understand the challenges on ground and how to translate the promises of government into practical programmes, as well as plan on how to enunciate policies,” he further explained.
BusinessDay reliably gathered that the retreat will have different facilitators, from different sectors to address the incoming ministers on the different topics as contained in the agenda.
Elizabeth Archibong
