In a move reminiscent of motion without movement, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reshuffles his cabinet members which results in the booting of six non performing ministers, redeployment of ten others and appointment of seven new ministers
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
It came just like a whirlwind. The expectation had been in the air for many weeks, keeping members of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet in sheer suspense: who will go, who will remain? At last, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, President Tinubu in one fell swoop axed six ministers from his cabinet whom he perceived to have performed short of his expectation from them.
In the same vein, the President also redeployed 10 other serving ministers. President Tinubu, as part of efforts to accelerate his Renewed Hope Agenda, also pencilled down seven names, including Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, widow of late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, for ministerial appointment. The names of Bianca and the other six ministerial nominees have since been forwarded to the National Assembly for confirmation.
President Tinubu also appointed Shehu Dikko as the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, (NSC). Dikko will take charge of the activities and programmes of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development, which has been scrapped alongside the Ministry of Niger Delta Development.
The President equally appointed two former ministers under President Muhammadu Buhari administration. While former Police Affairs Minister under Buhari, Muhammadu Dingyadi, was appointed Minister of Labour and Employment, former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, was appointed Special Adviser on Public Communication and Orientation under the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Among the ministers who were sacked from the cabinet include Prof. Tahir Mamman, former Minister for Education, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, former Minister for Women Affairs, Mohammad Gwarzo, former Minister of State, Housing, Jamila Ibrahim, former Minister for Youth Development, Lola Ade-John, former Minister of Tourism and the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, who has been replaced, even though government remained silent on her status.
Interestingly, Tinubu brought in seven ministerial nominees with their portfolios including Bianca Ojukwu, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Dr Nentawe Yilwa-tda who will replace the suspended Edu as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, Minister of Labour and Employment and Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Other newly appointed ministers include Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Minister for the newly established Ministry of Livestock Development, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development and Suwaiba Said Ahmad, Minister for State, Education.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, disclosed these while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of Wednesday, October 23, which was presided over by the President, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The presidential spokesman, Onanuga also announced that 10 ministers had been reassigned to new portfolios. These serving ministers include Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, former Minister of State, Education, now Minister of State, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Morufu Olatunji Alausa, former Minister of State, Health, now Minister of Education, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, former Minister of State Water Resources and Sanitation, now Minister of State for Works.
Others ministers reassigned redeployed are Abubakar Momoh, former Minister of Niger Delta Development, now Minister of Regional Development; Uba Maigari Ahmadu, Minister of State Development, now Minister of State, Regional Development; and Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, now Minister of State, Finance.
A former Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has been redeployed as Minister of State, Trade and Investment (Industry).
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who was the Minister of State, Police Affairs, is now Minister of Women Affairs; Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State for Youth Development, now Minister for Youth Development; and Dr. Salako Iziaq Adekunle Adeboye, former Minister of State, Environment, now Minister of State, Health.
According to Onanuga, President Tinubu has also approved the immediate implementation of eight far-reaching actions to reinvigorate the administration’s capacity for optimal efficiency, under his commitment to deliver on his promises to Nigerians.
Onanuga: “The eight actions approved by Mr. President include the renaming of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development to the Ministry of Regional Development to oversee activities of all the regional development commissions.
“The regional development commissions to be under the supervision of the new ministry are the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC; the South-East Development Commission, SEDC; the North-East Development Commission, NEDC; and the North-West Development Commission, NWDC.
“The immediate winding up of the Ministry of Sports Development and transfer of its functions to the National Sports Commission is to develop a vibrant sports economy.
“The merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
“The President thanked outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, for their service to the nation, while wishing them the best in their future endeavours.
“He then charged the newly appointed ministers and their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation.
“He added that all appointees must understand the administration’s eagerness and determination to set Nigeria on the path to irreversible growth and invest the best of their abilities into the actualisation of the government’s priorities,” Onanuga said.
Briefing earlier after the FEC meeting, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the President also directed that the Sports Commission will, henceforth, handle all sports activities and programmes initially handled by the Ministry of Sports Development.
He said with the scrapping of the Ministry of Tourism, all its activities had been brought to the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy.
In the meantime, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) George Akume, also said that his office is working closely with the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to implement the presidential directive on the merger and winding down of some ministries.
Akume, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja last night, said necessary directives had been issued on the implementation of the approval of the president.
According to Akume, “All handing over and taking over processes should be completed on/or before Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
‘’In the case of ministries where there are no ministers to take over, the outgoing ministers should hand over to the permanent secretaries.
“The processes for the seamless merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts, culture and Creative Economy as well as the winding down of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development are being coordinated jointly by the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Head of Civil Service of the Federation”, he stated.
Akume added that the renaming and expansion of the mandate of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development will take immediate effect.
According to him, the releasing supervising authorities as well as commissions under the new ministry have been duly notified of this development.
“Respective permanent secretaries are directed to ensure seamless implementation and also forward one copy of each of the hand-over notes to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the records,” he stated.
Notably, in a move to reduce cost of governance, President Tinubu has on Thursday, October 24, 2024 announced a cut in governance expenses following the appointment and re-assigning of new ministers to his cabinet.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Onanuga, disclosed this development in a post on his X handle (formerly known as Twitter).
The President, in his new directives, restricted ministers and heads of Agencies of the Federal Government to a maximum of three vehicles in their official convoys.
The statement reads, “President Bola Tinubu has restricted Ministers, Ministers of State, and Heads of Agencies of the Federal Government to a maximum of three vehicles in their official convoys.
“No additional vehicles will be assigned to them for movement.
“The cost-cutting measure was announced today in a statement signed by the President.
“In January this year, President Tinubu took significant steps to reduce government expenditure by reducing his entourage on foreign trips from 50 to 20 officials. For local trips, he reduced it to 25 officials.
“He similarly reduced the Vice President’s entourage to five officials on foreign trips and 15 for local trips.
“In the directive issued today, President Tinubu also ordered all ministers, ministers of state, and heads of agencies to have at most five security personnel attached to them.
“The security team will comprise four police officers and one Department of State Services (DSS) officer.
“No additional security personnel will be assigned, he ordered.
“President Tinubu instructed the National Security Adviser to engage with the Military, Paramilitary and Security Agencies to determine a suitable reduction in their vehicle and security personnel deployment.
“All affected officials are expected to comply with these new measures immediately, underscoring the urgency and seriousness of these changes.”
