‘President Tinubu May Reshuffle Cabinet Soon’

There are speculations that President Bola Tinubu is considering a cabinet reshuffle aimed at removing ministers who have not met performance expectations.

Reports are that the President is under mounting pressure from both internal and external factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take action against certain ministers who have shown a lack of activity in their roles.

Last year, Tinubu established the Result and Delivery Unit, led by Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman, the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, to evaluate the effectiveness of ministers and senior officials in his administration.

He made it clear that any minister or aide failing to deliver would face dismissal.

Recently, Tinubu made changes by appointing new directors-general for the National Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Services following the resignation of their predecessors.

Sources within the Presidency have indicated to Sunday PUNCH that a cabinet reshuffle is on the horizon.

These officials, who preferred to remain unnamed due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, mentioned that some ministers are likely to be removed, while others may be reassigned to different ministries to enhance overall performance. However, they did not specify which ministers might be impacted.

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“What I can tell you is some (ministers) will go. A few will swap positions, then new people will be brought on board. But the President will be focused more on capacity now; on people who can easily add value to his government”, a source stated.

The PUNCH quoted another source as saying that Tinubu’s close associates agreed that the President required a stronger cabinet to implement his policies effectively.

“The general concern among some of his aides, friends, and even the public is that the cabinet can be far better than this. There is a consensus among his (Tinubu) close friends that he needs a stronger cabinet to push through with his policies. It is one thing to announce policies and it is another thing for your ministers to deliver the outcomes you want. Oftentimes, it is the capacity of your cabinet members and heads of agencies that determines how you will deliver on those outcomes.

“If you look at the editorial by Financial Times earlier this week, it was not palatable at all. And what they were saying is that, yes, he has taken bold decisions, the reforms are good, but he has a weak cabinet that cannot help him to deliver on those reforms. That is why it appears like we are wobbling. So, he needs to bring in people with more energy and expertise, who are more patriotic and willing to roll up their sleeves and work for Nigeria and turn things around.

“If the past one year has not been eventful, he cannot afford to waste another year. This next one year is very critical. It is the next one year that will define the government,” the source said.