By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday swore in eight new junior government ministers only ten days before the country's general elections in which he is standing for reelection.
"This is an injury time. It is like bringing a player in when you have just five minutes to go in a football match," Jonathan said as he swore the ministers in at the presidential villa in capital Abuja.
"Everyone wants to know what that player will do; the magic the player will perform within that short period," he added.
"The player himself will struggle to at least kick the ball before the end of the game," the president noted, continuing with his football analogy.
The Nigerian constitution states that each of the country's 36 states must be represented in the national cabinet by at least one minister.
On March 28, Nigeria is slated to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
Although 14 candidates will vie for presidency, the poll is largely seen as a race between President Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler running on the ticket of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
The APC is an amalgam of political interests that have come together in a bid to wrest power from Jonathan's People's Democratic Party, which has ruled the country since its return to democracy in 1999.
