Nigerian leader swears in 45-member Cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sworn in a new Cabinet of 45 ministers with a promise to fast-track reforms aimed at improving lives in Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country

Nigeria Cabinet

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in 45 ministers nearly three months after his election, promising that his government will accelerate its development agenda.

The Cabinet is intended to help improve Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, where millions are grappling with economic hardship worsened by the new government’s policies which have had an immediate impact of further squeezing millions of poor Nigerians.

At an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged Nigeria's “daunting” challenges and said the Cabinet brings an opportunity to implement “long overdue reforms.”

“We must hold each other responsible; we have to do the job to meet the expectations of all Nigerians,” the president told the ministers.

It is Nigeria’s largest Cabinet since the country's return to democracy in 1999, triggering criticisms about high government expenditure despite Tinubu’s promises to cut costs. Fewer than 20% of the cabinet members are women, continuing a long tradition of low female representation in governance in Nigeria.

In addition to technocrats from the private sector, the ministers also include several party loyalists, including former governors who helped mobilize support for Tinubu when he was campaigning to become president.

Former investment banker Wale Edun was named the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, while Ali Pate, a former director at the World Bank who recently turned down an appointment to lead the global vaccine alliance Gavi, was named the minister of health and social welfare.