The Presidency confirmed on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu will soon reshuffle his cabinet. This decision will be based on the performance reports the President has received over the past few months.
The update was shared during a joint briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, and the Senior Special Assistant on Digital/New Media, O’Tega Ogra.
Onanuga clarified that while there is no specific timeline for the reshuffle, the President has expressed his intention to move forward with it. He said, “The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet, and he will do it.
I don’t know if it will happen before October 1, but he will definitely proceed with the reshuffle when he’s ready.”
Ogra added that the reshuffle will be based on objective performance reviews, not arbitrary decisions. These reviews were coordinated by Hadiza Bala-Usman, the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination and head of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit.
Ogra emphasized that the decision aligns with the President’s earlier commitment to regularly assess ministerial performance through these reviews.
Pressure has been mounting from within and outside the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Tinubu to remove underperforming ministers. It is speculated that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation may be scrapped as part of the reshuffle, and that some portfolios will be merged or divided, while others may result in certain ministers being dismissed.
Despite the President’s warning about underperformance nearly 10 months ago, the cabinet has remained largely unchanged, aside from the suspension of Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Last November, following a three-day retreat for cabinet members, Tinubu announced that the Central Delivery Coordination Unit, led by Bala-Usman, would monitor the performance of ministers and top officials, with their performance directly affecting their continued service.
“If you’re performing, there’s nothing to fear. But if objectives are missed and performance is lacking, you’ll leave,” the President said, adding that this approach marks a shift from the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which largely kept appointees in place for eight years except for a few isolated cases.
