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Nigerian president to become oil minister in new cabinet

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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will reportedly hold onto Nigeria’s oil ministry in his new cabinet.

The president, who took over at the end of May but delayed making the cabinet appointments, will take charge of the country’s oil sector rather than trust anyone else with it.

The oil sector is Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue and it provides the government with 70 percent of its revenue.

Buhari has not named his cabinet yet but is expected to do so in the coming days.

Buhari has deep knowledge of the oil sector having served as the head of the Petroleum Trust Fund under military ruler Sani Abacha in the 1990s, and as oil minister in the 1970s under former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

A collapse of the global oil prices has whacked Nigeria’s public finances and weakened its naira currency, delaying public salaries and fuelling inflation.

The president has however said that he will trace and recover what he termed as ‘mindboggling’ sums of money stolen over the years from the oil sector.

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