President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is reportedly using his annual vacation to reassess the performance of his cabinet, raising expectations of a potential reshuffle.
Sources from the All Progressives Congress (APC) told PoliticsNigeria that Tinubu is carefully evaluating his ministers to decide who should stay and who may need to exit, according to insider reports.
“Mr. President is spending his leave to put together a list of the ministers that will work with him, but he is also taking his time to weed out those who are not performing among his cabinet as presently constituted,” an anonymous source explained.
This review follows growing pressure from APC members, who have urged the president to dismiss underperforming ministers.
The calls for change intensified after the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, presented a performance scorecard evaluating the ministers.
Some party leaders, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, reportedly advised Tinubu to make adjustments, particularly to strengthen the administration’s image and efficiency.
Despite the speculations, Special Adviser to the President, Bayo Onanuga, has dismissed rumors of internal disagreements or tension between Tinubu and Shettima over the reshuffle.
Onanuga referred to such claims as “beer parlour” gossip and assured the public that the president will announce any reshuffle at the appropriate time.
“The president will make a public announcement regarding the (the reshuffle) exercise at the appropriate time that he deems proper and right,” Onanuga said, stressing that any decisions related to cabinet changes remain the sole prerogative of the president.
Other sources close to the presidency also denied any discord between Tinubu and Shettima, emphasizing the vice president’s loyalty. “The Vice President has been an epitome of loyalty to the President. He has been at the forefront in pushing the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President,” one source noted.
While some political figures may view the rumored reshuffle as a potential sign of conflict, insiders dismissed this as speculation. “It’s the prerogative of the President to hire and fire anyone in his cabinet at any time he so wishes,” another source added, calling the rumors distractions created by political opponents.
