The resolve of President Muhammadu Buhari to plug leakages and cut costs will tell on the incoming ministers.
According to Chris Ngige, former governor of Anambra state and a minister-designate, ministers will operate without perks of office.
Addressing journalists at the end of a two-day presidential retreat organised for ministers-designate by the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, Ngige said the president had mandated them to work together in unison.
“Yes, we shall operate a lean economy because we are going to block areas of leakages, retinue of aides, protocol staff, large convoys of cars are things that will not fly in this administration,” he said.
“If you have portfolio, if you don’t have portfolio, it is one single federal executive council. You bring whatever it is on the table. That is not a problem at all.
“We have the right to discuss things around the ministries because it is one single cabinet. The important thing is that we want to move our people from where they are now; they are in abject poverty, which concerns about 75 percent of the populace.
“So, we need to actually restructure the political and social moment of the country and that is what we are going to do. That means poverty will reduce.”
Journalists were barred from covering the end of the retreat, which had Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in attendance.
