More heads are expected to roll as President Muhammadu Buhari begins an unprecedented move to weed out non-performing ministers from his cabinet, Daily Trust learnt.
The president on Wednesday announced the sacking of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, and that of Power, Engr Sale Mamman during the weekly Federal Executive Council (NEC).
This was the first time President Buhari would wield the big stick on any of his ministers, before the end of their terms, since he came to power in 2015. He returned most of the ministers who served in his first tenure and posted them to the same ministries when he was re-elected in 2015.
Daily Trust reports that both Nanono and Mamman are long-time associates of the president.
The two sacked ministers were replaced with the Ministers of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar and the Minister of State, Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu, respectively.
Presidency sources confided in Daily Trust yesterday that those penciled down to be axed were more than the two eased out and that more ministers would be shown the exit any moment from now.
Announcing his decision to the cabinet members during the FEC meeting, President Buhari said the cabinet reshuffle would be a “continuous” exercise.
He said the changes in the team, which he formed on August 21, 2019 were sequel to the “Tradition of subjecting our projects and programs implementation to independent and critical self-review” through sector reporting during Cabinet meetings and at retreats. Buhari’s statement, insiders say, was an indirect reference to a Cabinet Office review he commissioned with the mandate to review activities of all ministries, their presentations before the FEC and contributions of the ministers as individuals in shaping policies and discussions in the council.
Apart from the need to strengthen “weak areas” and improve the delivery of public good to Nigerians as adduced by the president, sources said the sacked ministers were not fully on top of key issues in their ministries.
A presidential aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter said Buhari was “particularly disappointed” in the two ministers going by the premium he placed in the two ministries.
“The president was deliberate in assigning portfolios to the two men. Mamman, from Taraba State, was expected to get the Mambilla Power Project up and going, himself being from the area. But up to this moment, nothing tangible is achieved in that regard.
“The choice of Nanono to superintend agriculture ministry flowed from the same principle. As a seasoned farmer himself and someone from Kano, he was expected to reposition the sector and help government’s diversification mantra,” the source said.
