Nigeria lawmakers want promptly named cabinets to avoid policy delays

Nigeria – Nigeria lawmakers plan to amend the constitution to force the new president to nominate the cabinet within a month of taking office.

The lawmakers took the decision to avoid policy delays as Nigeria prepares for elections next year. The House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Amendment presented a report on Wednesday on this matter. The committee also recommended immunity from prosecution for Senate President, Speaker, Deputy Senate President, and Deputy Speaker.

The planned amendments come as the country prepares for presidential elections in 2023. The lower house of the parliament also proposed to allow Nigerians abroad to vote.

President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, was re-elected as a President to a second term in 2019. He won some 56 per cent of the vote. He had to submit cabinet names to parliament for confirmation after a long delay.

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During his first term in 2015, Buhari took six months to swear in a cabinet. Critics claimed that the delay contributed to a slow response to low oil prices that pushed the country into recession in 2016.

Buhari’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, came to power in Nigeria in 2015. The party took the oath to fight corruption and insecurity in the country. The party also pledged to boost the economy of the country. Buhari defeated an incumbent president for the first time since the end of military rule more than two decades ago. Since independence from Britain in 1960, there have been numerous coups and most elections were rigged in the country.

The country has suffered from several attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Reportedly, thousands of people were killed during these attacks.

Reportedly, the planned amendments to the constitution could take months. Analysts said that Buhari will need to sign the provisions before they become law.