BY DANIEL IDONOR
ABUJA— PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, gave reasons why he can not reduce the size of the next Federal cabinet below 36 ministers, saying that he was under legal obligation to appoint a minister from each state of the federation.

The President told the Presidential dvisory Council, PAC, led by Gen. TY Danjuma, that though the cabinet has 43 ministers currently, he lacks the legal powers to prune it beyond 36 ministers.

Speaking while winding down the existence of the Danjuma 26-man advisory group which he constituted in March last year, President Jonathan said the federal cabinet was large due to the constitutional provision which stipulates that each state of the country must produce a minister.

He said: “Your suggestion for a smaller cabinet is excellent and I agree with you, but this cannot be achieved without constitutional amendment.”

Earlier, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, Chairman of the PAC, said they were privileged to have been selected to proffer advise to the new administration of President Jonathan, adding that all members had contributed immensely to the Committee’s work.

He advised the President to apply the same diligence he applied in selecting the PAC to the appointment of his new cabinet from among the abundant qualified Nigerians willing to serve the country, and expressed the Committee’s appreciation for the opportunity to serve Nigeria.

Meanwhile, as the scramble by various political interest groups for ministerial slots into President Goodluck Jonathan’s new cabinet peaked, the President-elect, yesterday, vowed that only those with the required competence would make his new cabinet.

This  came on the heels of expectation that President Jonathan will, next Wednesday, dissolve the Federal Executive Council, FEC, ahead of the May 29, 2011 inauguration of the new government even as he explained why he would maintain large cabinet.

Jonathan appointed the present 43-member council in April 2010, following his dissolution of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s cabinet.

A minister who is confident of a return to the cabinet, confided in Vanguard that “ministers who had outstanding memos were advised to bring them to FEC today (yesterday) to enable the Council approve urgent projects before its dissolution.

“It is customary that the cabinet is dissolved before the end of every administration and I can confidently tell you that the valedictory session for this council will be next Wednesday.”

Serving ministers barred from lobbying

Vanguard gathered that serving ministers have been barred from lobbying directly for fresh appointment by the President.

It was also learnt that the President had warned that anyone who disobeyed the directive would not be considered at all for any political appointment.

A source said: “The information we have is that no serving minister is allowed to lobby for fresh appointment. And Mr. President has warned that any one found to be engaged in the act if he or she was initially pencilled down for reappointment would be dropped. The President wants people to be appointed on merit and not on godfatherism.”

Meanwhile, indications emerged, yesterday, that the President and principal officers of the National Assembly would meet during the week over the stalemate in the signing of the 2011 budget.

The Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, had after the passage of the 2011 appropriation bill by the lawmakers declared that the budget was not implementable and, therefore, urged the President not to assent to the document.

An Aso Rock source told Vanguard that the law makers were even now more eager than President Jonathan to ensure the 2011 budget is passed into law before the end of the sixth National Assembly.

Finetuning of grey areas in budget

The source said: “Meetings are going on and the Minister of Finance and the legislators have met on several occasions to fine_tune the grey areas in the budget. As I am talking to you now, they are even more eager than the President to see that the budget is passed before May 29, 2011.”

Vanguard learnt that the primary reason for the meeting “is to avoid setting a precedence. The National Assembly members want to clear their names. They do not want to be seen by Nigerians as people who are only interested in selfish issues.”

It was further learnt that the lawmakers were prepared to bend the rules to ensure that the budget is harmonized and signed by the President “because they knew that they did what wasn’t right in the eyes of Nigerians, they are now ready to right the wrong before they leave office.

“Unlike before, President Jonathan refused to be intimidated because he knew he was defending what is right. If he had signed the budget, his government would have paid dearly for it in the 2011 financial year. The deficit would have been unmanageable. It was financial doom in the waiting.”