President Muhammadu Buhari has finally begun to appoint board members to various important parastatals and agencies. Many of the key agencies’ boards have remained vacant for over a year which has become a major concern for many members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who felt that those who helped them to win the elections were not being rewarded by being appointed to the various boards, as the donors were expecting.

Buhari’s media adviser, Femi Adesina, released a statement on 11 April, announcing the appointment of new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) board members. The following day, on 12 April, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) released a statement, announcing the appointment of new board members for 23 key Federal Government agencies, and sacking the incumbent chairmen in some cases. Some of the agencies that now have new heads and boards include: the Pension Commission (PENCOM); the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB); and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Many of these agencies have run without boards since they were sacked in July 2015, shortly after Buhari became president. Their lack of boards has meant that many agencies have not been fully operational because many activities — particularly regarding decisions over expenditure above a certain amount — required board approval. This led to a significant slowdown in the activities of these agencies and also negatively impacted on the private sector players that serviced these organisations.

With the boards now in place, there is expectation that activities at the agencies will significantly accelerate. According to media reports, however, some of the smaller parties that joined the APC ruling coalition have complained that they have been left out of the board appointments.

APC sources complained that the party’s hierarchy were not consulted before the appointments were announced. There is a growing opinion that … [article continues]