Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who was appointed as the acting Nigeria’s Minister of Finance following Kemi Adeosun’s resignation has now resumed duty.
According to The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Zainab Ahmed was the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning before she was appointed as the minister of finance.
Zainab Ahmed has described her new responsibilities as challenging. She explained this on Monday after she was being received by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse alongside Directors of the Ministry.
“These are very challenging times for our country. It means we are part of the economic team that has been charged with making sure there is economic stability in our country.
“We have very serious revenue challenges and it is up to us to shore up the revenues of this country.
“Mr president has a lot of confidence that we can do this very well together. We are working for Mr president, but at the end of the day we are working for the benefit of the citizens of our country.
“There are a lot of sacrifices that I know that you have done, and we are going to push ourselves to still do more so that at the end of the day we will say Alhamdulillah– glory be to God!” she stated.
She advised the ministry staff and officials to stay prepared for the challenges ahead, noting that all everyone must be ready to work with her to succeed in her assignment.
“The finance ministry has overtime been known to have very skilled personnel; from interacting with some of you, I know that there is a lot of skill set within the ministry, and that I am in good hands.
“I plan to work very closely with the whole of the directors, most especially with the permanent secretary.
“I want to declare that today the Permanent Secretary is my new next-of-kin. What that means is that I am going to work hand-in-gloves with him, and I expect everybody to do the same thing.
“There are some things I know about finance, but there is a lot that I don’t know; and the knowledge resides in you.”
“I have been told that you are preparing handing-over notes, or more correctly briefing notes; I will be engaging each of you on a one-on-one basis with the Permanent Secretary, so that I can have a complete view of what is in the ministry,” she explained.
Mrs. Zainab Ahmed who was the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, has served in several sensitive positions in the past including being the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, while she also served as the Managing Director of Kaduna Investment Company and member of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG).
