President Bola Tinubu and his ministers
In the last couple of months, there had been speculations that President Bola Tinubu wanted a cabinet shake-up to inject new blood into his cabinet following widespread view of a growing disconnect between the people and the administration on account of what is believed to be non performance, growing hardship over economic policies that have led to acute difficulties and rising prices of basic commodities. On key deliverables, stakeholders, the man in the street believe many of these ministers have grossly underperformed and therefore have no moral and any other justification for their continued retention in the cabinet.
It was therefore no surprise when on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga , Special Adviser to the President on Media and Strategy and Otega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant on Communications and New Media in a press conference confirmed the imminence of a cabinet reshuffle.
The two media managers remained tight-lipped on the exact timing.
While there is speculation that the reshuffle may occur before October 1, Onanuga clarified that no specific date has been set.
“The President has made it clear that he plans to reshuffle his cabinet. Whether it happens before October 1, I cannot say for sure, but it will happen,” Onanuga stated.
He also emphasized the need for greater transparency and public communication from current ministers, urging them to be more proactive in sharing the administration’s achievements.
Onanuga highlighted that some ministers have been reluctant to engage with the media, which he said has contributed to a perception that the government is not doing enough, despite its efforts.
“The President has instructed all ministers to actively communicate what their ministries are achieving. Some of them have been hesitant to engage with the media, but the President wants them to change that,” Onanuga said.
He added, “The public needs to hear about the significant work being done by this administration. It’s time for the ministers to go out and share the progress being made, to show that the government is indeed working.”
The reshuffle, when it happens, is expected to align with Tinubu’s broader strategy to enhance governance and better communicate the administration’s successes.
Onanuga further noted that some of the ministers have not helped matters as they remained tight lipped and hesitant to talk about the administration’s successes in the public.
It is widely believed that with the exception of Nyesom Wike Minister for Federal Capital Territory, Dave Umahi, Minister for Works and few others, none of the other ministers have performed above bar, calling into question their competence, and further raising the problematic of politics trouncing capacity in political appointment.
NATIONAL WAVES like all other stakeholders in the Nigerian project view the idea of appointing political allies who are incompetent into key offices as one of the reasons for failure, and urge the presidency to go the whole hog to rid his administration of incompetent ministers and top government officials. He must resist lobby to retain them, if he must succeed in his so-called economic reform.
Some of these ministers are alleged to live extravagantly in luxury, but the argument has been that they have enjoyed this impunity at the expense of the people.
