President Bola Tinubu is preparing to reshuffle his cabinet soon, according to a statement from the Presidency on Wednesday. The move will be based on performance reports from various ministers over the past few months.
During a joint briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, both Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, and Mr. O’Tega Ogra, the Senior Special Assistant on Digital and New Media, revealed the details of the upcoming changes.
While they did not provide an exact timeline, they confirmed that President Tinubu has made clear his intention to make adjustments to the cabinet.
Onanuga explained, “Let me tell you, I don’t have any timeline. The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet, and he will do it.
“I don’t know whether he’s going to do it before October 1, but he will surely do it. So that’s what I will say. He has not given us any timeline when he wants to do it, but he will do it. He has expressed his plan that he wants to do it.”
Ogra added that the decision to reorganize the cabinet would not be random but rather based on detailed performance reviews. These reviews have been gathered by Hadiza Bala-Usman, the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, who leads the Central Delivery Coordination Unit.
“The President’s decision to reshuffle his cabinet is also based on empirical evidence. 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 Mr. Onanuga said, when he is ready to do that, he will.”
Pressure has been mounting on the Tinubu administration to dismiss underperforming ministers. Both members of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and external critics have urged the President to take action against officials who are not meeting their targets.
There are speculations that one significant outcome of the reshuffle could be the dissolution of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
In addition, there are discussions about merging some ministries while splitting others to enhance efficiency. Certain ministers are also expected to be relieved of their duties.
President Tinubu had issued warnings to his ministers about underperformance as far back as 10 months ago, but there have been few changes to his cabinet so far. The most notable exception was the suspension of Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
