President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hinted at a plan to reshuffle his cabinet, signaling imminent changes in the leadership of key ministries.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, told state house correspondents on Wednesday that “the president has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet and he will do it”.
“I don’t know whether he wants to do it before October 1, but he will surely do it. That is what I will say. But he has not given us any timeline,” Onanuga added.
Onanuga who noted that the Tinubu administration has achieved much in terms of policy initiatives, however, noted that not much has been put on public domain.
“The President has directed the Ministers to engage more with members of the public, especially on the achievements of the current administration.
“Many Nigerians believe the president isn’t doing much, while the government is actually making significant strides,” Onanuga said.
O’tega Ogra, senior special assistant to the president on digital and new media, corroborated Onanuga by saying the rejig of the cabinet “will happen soon”.
Ogra said the decision will be based on performance reports presented by Hadiza Bala-Usman, special adviser to the president on policy coordination.
Bala-Usman also heads the central delivery coordination unit.
“The president’s decision to reshuffle his cabinet is also based on empirical evidence,” Ogra said.
“You know, he had said when he was speaking at the retreat for the ministers that they were going to have periodic reviews and the decisions that are extracted from these reviews will be used to make that final decision.
“I know he has gotten a couple of reports, and as Onanuga said, when he is ready to do that, he will.”
Tinubu is facing growing calls from within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to remove underperforming ministers from his cabinet and reset the course of his administration.
Some APC chieftains have told journalists off-the-record that the rejig is long overdue.
Sources say a significant reshuffle may involve dissolving the ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, with plans to merge or split certain portfolios.
There are also indications that some of the changes to the president’s cabinet could be implemented before October 1 — Nigeria’s Independence Day.
The cabinet has largely remained unchanged since it was inaugurated in August 2023 — save for the suspension of Betta Edu as humanitarian affairs minister in January.
Last November, after a three-day retreat for cabinet members and presidential aides, Tinubu announced that the central delivery coordination unit would measure performances of ministers and those of other top government officials
Their performances would determine who would leave or stay on, Tinubu had said.
“If you are performing, there is nothing to fear. If you miss the objective, we’ll review it,” Tinubu said.
“If there is no performance, you leave us. No one is an island and the buck stops on my desk.”