Nigeria's Buhari takes ministers on retreat, still no news on their jobs

By Ulf Laessing and Alexis Akwagyiram LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari took his ministers-in-waiting on a surprise two-day retreat on Thursday, extending an already long-delayed process of swearing in a cabinet in a country facing its worst economic crisis in years. Some government officials were unable to attend an EU investment forum in commercial capital Lagos because of the previously unannounced gathering 475 miles (650 km) away in Abuja, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said. Many investors have growing increasingly concerned at the protracted process of naming a cabinet in the five months since Buhari became president and promised to usher in a new era after years of endemic corruption and mismanagement. The 72-year-old former military ruler took four months to pick his candidates for the cabinet who were finally approved by the Senate last week. He has so far not announced which posts they will hold when they are formally sworn in, leaving a policy vacuum in Africa's biggest economy. Buhari has defended the lengthy process to form a cabinet, saying getting it right was more important than speed. "The work of restoration and renewal is urgent and immense," Buhari told the ministers, according to a presidency statement. Past presidents have held similar retreats after handing out ministerial portfolios. The retreat would discuss urgent policies to "ensure inclusive growth", the government added. Economic challenges have been piling up in Nigeria as public finances have been hit hard by the loss of vital oil revenues. Lagos governor Akinwunmi Ambode and several lower-level officials stepped in to give speeches at the conference in the commercial capital Lagos organised with the European Union and focused on diversifying the economy away from oil. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in charge of economic policy, had cancelled due to the surprise retreat, one of the organisers said. Labeled as a forum "unlocking opportunities for diversification", the programme had listed several ministers to discuss investment opportunities such as farming. Nigerian firms and foreign investors complain that they cannot get dollars as the central bank has imposed currency controls to avoid another naira devaluation. The naira was officially devalued last November and underwent a de facto devaluation again in February. On another front, South Africa is concerned about a $5.2 billion fine imposed by Nigeria on cell operator MTN Group though this would not affect relations between the continent's two biggest economies, a cabinet minister said on Thursday. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing, Alexis Akwagyiram and Felix Onuah; Editing by)