Ministers under pressure as President Tinubu eyes cabinet reshuffle

Ministers exhibiting subpar performance under the administration of President Bola Tinubu appear poised to be replaced.

There has been significant pressure on Tinubu, emanating from both internal and external factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to terminate the appointments of ministers – some of whom have seemingly demonstrated a lack of activity.

In the previous year, the President established the Result and Delivery Unit, overseen by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Mrs. Hadiza Bala-Usman, with the objective of assessing the effectiveness of ministers and other senior government officials within his administration. He cautioned that any minister or aide exhibiting inadequate performance would face dismissal.

Recently, Tinubu enacted a change in leadership by appointing new directors-general for the National Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Services subsequent to the resignation of the heads of these agencies.

Informants within the Presidency conveyed to Sunday PUNCH that a reorganization of the cabinet is forthcoming.

The officials, who requested confidentiality due to their lack of authorization to address the issue, indicated that certain ministers would be removed from their positions, while others would be reassigned to different ministries to enhance operational efficiency.

Nonetheless, the sources refrained from specifying which ministers are likely to be impacted.

“What I can tell you is some (ministers) will go. A few will swap positions, then new people will be brought on board. But the President will be focused more on capacity now; on people who can easily add value to his government”, a source stated.

Another source disclosed that Tinubu’s close associates agreed that the President required a stronger cabinet to implement his policies effectively.

The source stated, “The general concern among some of his aides, friends, and even the public is that the cabinet can be far better than this. There is a consensus among his (Tinubu) close friends that he needs a stronger cabinet to push through with his policies. It is one thing to announce policies and it is another thing for your ministers to deliver the outcomes you want. Oftentimes, it is the capacity of your cabinet members and heads of agencies that determines how you will deliver on those outcomes.

“If you look at the editorial by Financial Times earlier this week, it was not palatable at all. And what they were saying is that, yes, he has taken bold decisions, the reforms are good, but he has a weak cabinet that cannot help him to deliver on those reforms. That is why it appears like we are wobbling. So, he needs to bring in people with more energy and expertise, who are more patriotic and willing to roll up their sleeves and work for Nigeria and turn things around.

“If the past one year has not been eventful, he cannot afford to waste another year. This next one year is very critical. It is the next one year that will define the government.”