Private Sector, Opposition Split As Tinubu Reshuffles Cabinet

 “If you are performing, nothing to fear. If you miss the objective, we’ll review it. If no performance, you leave us. No one is an island and the buck stops on my desk,” the President told participants.

To ensure a smooth transition, Tinubu also ordered redeployed and sacked ministers to hand over to their successors on or before October 30, 2024.

In a statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Tinubu said the merging of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts Culture and Creative Economy, as well as the Sports Development, should be coordinated by the SGF and the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

He noted that in ministries without designated ministers, outgoing ministers should transfer responsibilities to the Permanent Secretaries.

It partly read, “Necessary directives have been issued on the implementation of the approval of Mr President, accordingly. All handing over and taking over processes should be completed on or before Wednesday 30th October, 2024.

“In the case of ministries where there are no ministers to take over, the outgoing ministers should hand over to the Permanent Secretaries.

“The processes for the seamless merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts Culture and Creative Economy as well as the winding down of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development are being coordinated jointly by the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.”

“The releasing supervising authorities as well as commissions under the new ministry have been duly notified of this development,” the statement added. “Respective Permanent Secretaries are directed to ensure seamless implementation and also forward one copy of each of the hand-over notes to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the records.”

Opposition knocks FG

Reactions have continued to trail President Bola Tinubu’s scrapping of ministries and sacking of some ministers with major opposition parties describing it as a distraction to cover his administration’s incompetence.

The Deputy National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Timothy Osadolor, described the move as a domestic arrangement deployed to distract the hungry masses.

He said, “How can you replace filthy rags with another set of filthy rags? Those are cosmetic arrangements to deceive Nigerians. The real issue is that the President is malfunctioning in administration. The Nigerian masses are hungry and dying. What they need is no changing of ministers and renaming of ministries. The people need security, jobs, power and above all, Nigerians need stability.”

The National Chairman, Social Democratic Party, Shehu Gabam, added that the government was paying lip service to Nigerians’ call for improvement.

“Merging ministries or taking out a few ministers wouldn’t bring any noticeable change. He needs to focus on changing the strategic sectors that need immediate action,” Gabam said.

“Our consistent advice to this government is to inject capacity. I believe 75 per cent of this cabinet needs to go. The people that surround him (Tinubu) cannot help his government. There is no need to pretend about it.

“You cannot keep having an economic sector that sucks the citizens out with a very draconian policy of taxation like the ministry of finance, inland revenue service and so on at a period when there is over 50 per cent of poverty, unemployment and food shortages ravaging the country. Even the Minister of Agriculture is not effective. In truth, the Ministry of Agriculture needs to be decentralised while the Federal Government works together with each state government on this.

“In the basic area of health challenges, I don’t know of any single facility that has been built as a referral hospital. Yet, Nigeria is the giant of Africa. So, for me, it’s lip service. As I said earlier, 75 per cent of this cabinet is not functioning, and he must bring in competent people irrespective of their parties. He is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His primary responsibility is to elevate the living standards and welfare of Nigerians.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, raised concerns over the government’s failure to address pressing issues affecting the welfare of the masses.

According to him, subsuming, scrapping ministries and appointing new ministers were not the solutions

He said, “That he scrapped the Niger Delta and sports development ministries is not what Nigerians are looking for. Those two ministries have no direct impact on the economic situation in the country. There is hunger in the land. One will expect this goverment to begin to tinker on economic realities and how to move this nation from the doldrums. It is not about the number of ministers or ministries.”

Also, new National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Sylvester Ezeokenwa, stated, “If not for anything, there have been calls for the President to institute more economic reforms, even though there are still some key ministries that we already expected him to do more. So, for me, there are no ‘ifs and buts’ to it. There are no excuses. You can’t continue to give the long-suffering Nigerians excuses for any maladministration or poor performance.”

Social media abuzz

Meanwhile, Nigerians demanded further cabinet reshuffling that aligned with leadership and governance priorities necessary to address the country’s pressing challenges.

Citizens, while expressing their views on social media platforms, stressed that Tinubu should have sacked more ministers.

Some expressed shock that the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola and Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu were not relieved of their duties.

The criticism of Matawalle may not be unconnected with the insecurity in some parts of the country while that of Adebalu could be linked to the incessant blackouts resulting from a series of grid collapses, as well as electricity tariff hikes.

“Despite the cabinet reshuffle—removing some ineffective officials—key figures like Bello Matawalle, (Gboyega) Oyetola, and (Adebayo) Adelabu remain in their positions. Their removal could have paved the way for more competent leadership in critical ministries,” an X user, @ArakunrinSugar, stated on Wednesday.

“I hope the minister of power is on the list of the sacked ministers,” asked @gani_jonathan.

“President Tinubu is not serious if Bayo Adelabu, Wale Edun, and Ali Pate still retain their jobs,” @OyiboChijioke stated.

Another user, @dosunmusg, also asked, “Where’s the Minister of Petroleum?”

“Today’s (Wednesday) restructuring of ministries by President Tinubu shows that the President has merely scratched the surface of our nation’s main challenges. In government, there are key ministries such as Finance, Defence, Agriculture, Works, Education, Petroleum, Budget and Planning, Power, and Health, whose performance largely shapes public perception of the administration.

“Unfortunately, many of those leading these key ministries have fallen short of expectations. It is clear that they have exhausted their ideas and that they cannot provide the necessary solutions. If the President is truly committed to meaningful change, he should focus on these key ministries. The removal of ministers in charge of Women’s Affairs, Tourism, Housing and Urban Development, and other non-core sectors will do little to alleviate the hardships currently faced by the masses,” @Lekebiz324 wrote.

@Nwafresh said sacking the ministers while retaining the petroleum minister was “a joke.”

“Sacking them based on poor performance and not including the minister of petroleum makes the entire process a joke! The minister of petroleum is supposed to top the sacking list,” the user wrote.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) is Heineken Lokpobiri.

Other persons also asked about the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

@Imeeeokon wrote, “How about the FCT Minister?”

A netizen, @WChappjumbo, said the removal of Women Affairs minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye was long overdue. “We wish her well in her future endeavours,” the user wrote.

Meanwhile, @chuksonuorahma sought the restatement of the women’s affairs minister, saying she “is by far the most passionate and active minister in the Federal Executive Council. Please reinstate her.”

OPS react

Reacting to the development, members of the organised private sector commended the reshuffling but urged the president to conduct a holistic, result-oriented transformation and restructuring of the president’s cabinet.

The National President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Dr Femi Egbesola, said cabinet reshuffle, as is done in many governments of the world, was targeted at reducing the cost of governance through merging, scrapping and relocating of departments and agencies with the purpose of improving productivity and create a thriving economy.

He said, “We in the MSME ecosystem believe that this move may result in better productivity, outputs, and outcomes but, unfortunately, job losses. If the whole idea is that the government wants to reduce cost and also improve efficiency in service delivery leading to a productive and thriving economy, then it’s a breath of fresh air.

 “However, change and reshuffling shouldn’t be limited to ministries and agencies alone. It should also be about removing non-performing and underperforming ministers and other heads of MDAs. The current economic realities show that the drivers of our economy need some reformation or replacement. We advocate for a holistic, result-oriented transformation and restructuring of the president’s cabinet.”

In a similar vein, a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Dr Ikenna Nwosu, said, “He (Tinubu) fired underperforming ministers, he reshuffled who was justified, good for Nigeria. I am satisfied, except that the Ministry of Sports should not have been scrapped in favour of a National Sports Commission, as that is against global best practices.

 “After the next six months, if we do not see progress in socio-economic reforms, then Nigerians will react. Also, note that the World Bank recently told the President to keep up the reforms, hence re-jigging the Ministerial cabinet and Ministries means that he wants to do as advised.”

Renowned economist, Professor Akpan Ekpo, while welcoming the cabinet reshuffle said reshuffling of the economic team was critical.

He said, “It is okay and it is good to have a shake-up once in a while so that they can perform. The president has their performance scorecard, so he knows their performance. This will ensure that they will take their work seriously. The only one I was surprised about was the Woman Affairs minister. She was doing very well. Otherwise, this is a step in the right direction.

“This administration does not have a good economic management team outside of the minister. The Economic Council that the president has is not well composed because those who should be the recipients of policies are now the ones making policies. That is not the way to go. What should have happened is to have an economic team with technocrats, and experts and that should be composed of about 35 per cent economists, who are very good and a different forum for businessmen.  The economy is very bad, he needs to rejig the committee and whatever they give, and he needs to take it seriously in the interest of the country. He needs to rejig, recompose the economic team and include experts so we can be on a good development trajectory. Right now, we are not.”

Senior Managing Partner, Intellectual Edge Services, Dr Olusegun Ogundare, while expressing mixed feelings about the cabinet reshuffle, wondered why some ministers were not shown the exit.

He said, “Whether I am impressed, I can say yes and I can say no. What is the Minister of Power (Adelabu) doing? What is the Minister of State for Defence (Matawalle) doing in that cabinet? Adelabu should have been excused. He doesn’t know anything about power.

Ogundare, who also lectures at the Ajayi Crowther University, added that the economic team of the President should have be rejigged.

 “For me, I would have said or thought that Mr Wale Edun should have been moved away. He is the Coordinating Minister of The Economy, which means the lifeline of the economy is in his hands. I would have suggested a more cerebral person,  a little bit younger should be in that position and that of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

“Very soon, we will start seeing things that are not needed within the budget. We need a more cerebral person in that position,” he said.

Labour hopeful

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Adewale Oyerinde, said the reshuffling was a step in the right direction.

He said, “The President has promised to reshuffle, and now we have the reshuffle, and we hope that the newly appointed will step up the activities of the state, navigating the state towards a more rapid trajectory towards growth.

 “We have a new Minister of Labour, we have a new Minister of Industry, a very qualified and dedicated woman and we believe that the new team will be able to step up the activities to drive the economy towards growth.”

The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, added, “This effort is widely seen as a positive development, particularly given the high cost of running the government in the country. Any step towards cutting down on such expenses is welcomed, as it means the government will save funds that can be reallocated to address other pressing needs.

“However, while this initiative is commendable, it represents only a small fraction of what could be done to reduce the financial burden of governance. The real area where significant costs are incurred lies in the operation of the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. These arms of government consume vast amounts of resources, with expenditures running into several billions of Naira annually.

 “Therefore, it is recommended that the government extend its cost-cutting measures beyond the ministries. After the successful merging of ministries, the President should also extend it, to the legislative arm. By doing so, the government would not only reduce the overall cost of governance but also free up additional funds for more critical areas of development.”

Also, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, welcomed the President’s reshuffling of the ministers.

He said, “The business community and even beyond the business community, the rest of the Nigerian society, has, for some time now, indicated that the size of government was clearly too large.

 “The (present) number of ministries is the largest in recent history. We expected a very significant reduction in the number of ministries, (not) reducing two out of 49 and creating a new one.”

He added, “In 2023, we addressed the question of the size of government at the federal level. We think that the government’s commitment to reducing the cost of government or governance will have reduced the number of ministries to the minimum that the constitution requires, which is 36, plus one from the federal level, which is 37. Anything beyond that, in light of the economic crisis, will be regarded as more than necessary.”

However, the Director, Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, hailed the cabinet reshuffle as needful for enhancing government efficiency.

The economist said, “I believe that what the President has done is quite in order. If you look at it critically, it has been targeted at removing the duplications of functions that exist and also in rationalising some of the operations of government by merging functions and activities of government that are similar.

“I think it is a step in the right direction. And I think the reassignment of ministers (will) make the system more efficient and effective.”

CSOs

Chairman, Center for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said the cabinet was bloated, adding that the reshuffle was long overdue.

“Our general suggestion is not just to sack some ministers. It is to reduce the cost of governance, the cost of running the MDAs. We have also suggested that there is no need for Special Advisers after having appointed ministers, because it is an added burden on the lean resources of the country. We don’t need Ministers of State, we don’t Special Advisers. Let them reduce the cost of governance through that,” Adeniran stated.

 “It is a good thing that the President eventually acceded to the request of majority of Nigerians, but then, it doesn’t have to lead to inefficiency in some areas. Where we should have ministers, we should have substantive ministers that know their onions. And reshuffling should be based on antecedents and track record of performance. Since the constitution says we should have at least a minister from each state, let us reduce the number of ministers to 36, and ensure that they are efficient, so that effectiveness is guaranteed.”

The Executive Director, Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, urged the government to address issues of wasteful spending and corruption.

“Government deliberately needs to ensure that corruption and wasteful spending are drastically addressed. Otherwise, if you do this (cabinet reshuffle) and you do not follow it up with stringent conditions of financial management, then we will see continuation of waste by some of these either retained ministers or newly appointed ministers,” he said.

On his part, the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said sacking only five of the 46 ministers was insufficient. He added that the President should have dissolved the entire cabinet to appoint experts and technocrats to deal with the challenges facing the country.

Onwubiko said, “The five persons sacked is grossly insufficient because of the 45 ministers, those who didn’t actually bring any impact or change to the wellbeing and welfare of Nigerians are over 50 per cent. So, what the President should have done is to dissolve his cabinet entirely and reappoint a fresh team for his FEC.

 “And anybody who is going to come must have something to offer. Membership of the ruling party is okay, but that is not the most important criterion for picking somebody to be a minister.”

Clark kicks

Elder statesman and convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, expressed his dismay over the decision of the FEC to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

In a phone conversation with our correspondent on Wednesday, Clark described the move as unjustified and detrimental to the region’s development.

“What I’ve noted so far is that there’s no basis for scrapping it. Yar’Adua had a clear purpose to address the security situation in the Niger Delta, which led to the creation of the ministry focused on developing that area. We have been working for some time now, managing our commissions,” he said.

Clark emphasised that the ministry’s existence was not merely about its administrative structure but about fulfilling the specific needs of the Niger Delta.

He lamented the lack of tangible development, pointing out the stalled progress of major projects like the East-West Road, which had been handed over to the Ministry of Works without any significant progress under the Niger Delta Ministry.

“Why would you take over a ministry without any developmental plans, funding, or concrete actions? Even the East-West Road, which was meant to be under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is not being addressed; it has  been  handed back to the Ministry of Works.”

“What I’m saying is that the Federal Government lacks special arrangement for this. When I saw that every region was establishing its own development centres or commissions, I anticipated these issues would arise.”

‘Scrap marine ministry’

The National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, Mr. Taiwo Fatobilola, called for the scrapping of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, advising that it should be merged with the Ministry of Transportation.

“The Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy should be scrapped and merged with the Ministry of Transportation. Let’s be honest with ourselves, since the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, assumed office, what has he achieved? Nothing, just jamboree, it should go back to the Ministry of Transportation,” he said.

“A few months ago at the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, we told the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy that the only way to bring positive change is to address the fluctuating exchange rate. Since then, he has not done anything.”

However, the National Secretary of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr. Stanley Ezenga, also suggested a merger of both ministries.

“Honestly, I don’t know what the Minister of Transportation is doing; nothing has been heard about the minister. I will suggest the President to merge the Ministry of Transportation with that of Marine and Blue Economy the way it used to be before to ensure efficiency,” Ezenga stated.