President Bola Tinubu has sacked five ministers from his cabinet.
Those sacked are Ministers of Women Affairs – Barr. Oju-Ken Ohanenye; Minister of Tourism – Lola Ade-John; Minister of Education – Prof. Tahir Mamman; Minister for State, Housing and Urban Development – Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo and Minister of Youth Development – Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim
A statement issued by the presidency says the move is a part of eight far-reaching decisions taken to reinvigorate the president’s administrative capacity for optimal performance.
President Tinubu thanked the outgoing ministers for their service to Nigeria and wished them the best in their future endeavours. He however, did not tie the exit to non-performance.
In November of 2023, President Tinubu, while delivering his address at a cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries, pledged to sack non performing team members.
He said “That is why we established ‘Results Delivery Units’. At the end of this retreat, you are going to sign a bond of understanding between the ministers, the permanent secretaries and myself. If you are performing, there is nothing to fear,” stated Mr Tinubu.
But the president warned there would consequences for poor performance.
“If you missed the objective, we review. If no performance, you leave us. No one is an island and the buck stops on my desk. I assure you will have a free hand,” Mr Tinubu stressed. “You must be intellectually inquisitive to ask, how? Why? When? and why it must be immediate?”
Apart from the sacking of the ministers, the 7 other decision taken by the President are: The remaining of Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to Minister of Regional Affairs; immediate winding up of Ministry of Sports Development and transfer of its functions to National Sport Commission; the merging of Federal Ministry of Tourism and Federal Ministry of of Art and Culture to become Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy; reassignment of 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios; nomination of 7 new ministers for onwards transmission to Senate for confirmation; appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman, National Sports Commission appointment of Sunday Akin Dare as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications Orientation working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
