12/07/2011 13:37:00
President Goodluck Jonathan named career diplomat Olugbenga Ashiru as foreign minister and Bart Nnaji as power minister among several Cabinet appointments late on Monday.
Mr. Ashiru has served as a diplomat for almost three decades and was recently Nigeria's high commissioner in South Africa.
Mr. Nnaji was the head of a company that built a major power distribution plant in a country suffering from chronic electricity shortages. He was also the former head of the presidential power task force. He will arguably have one of the toughest ministerial challenges.
Mr. Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term on May 29 and his ministerial choices are being watched closely by Nigerians and foreign investors keen for a team capable of driving badly needed reforms.
He has already reappointed 12 ministers from the outgoing government to their old jobs, including Oil Minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, a move his critics saw as an uninspiring start.
World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was approved by the Senate to join the Cabinet last week and is expected to be sworn in by Mr. Jonathan in an expanded role as finance minister in the coming days.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, a respected former finance minister who helped negotiate debt relief in 2005, said last week she was concerned about the high cost of government and the depletion of foreign reserves, despite high oil prices.
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