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The Cabinet of Nigeria is the Executive Branch of the Government of Nigeria. The Cabinet members are appointed by the President and report to the President. The Cabinet currently oversees 24 Federal Ministries, each responsible for some aspect of providing government services, as well as a number of parastatals (government-owned corporations).
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Relationship to Civil Service
The ministries and parastatals are staffed by career civil servants. Each is headed by a Permanent Secretary, a senior civil servant appointed by the Head of the Civil Service. The Permanent Secretary is accountable to a Minister, who sits in the Cabinet and reports to the President. The Minister is appointed by the President subject to approval by the Senate and is responsible for policy, while the Permanent Secretary is responsible for implementation of policy.
Ministers and Ministers of State
By convention, there must be one Cabinet member from each of the 36 states in Nigeria, although there are only 19 ministries and at times a Federal minister is responsible for more than one ministry (e.g. Environment and Housing), or the President takes direct control of a key ministry such as Petroleum Resources. To ensure representation from each state, a Minister is often assisted by one or more Ministers of State.