PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu wielded his big stick on Wednesday, and like a surgeon in a theatre, he used his surgical knife, yanked off five ministers, redeployed 10 and appointed seven fresh nominees as ministers to replace the sacked ones as well as two others — Betta Edu who was initially suspended, and Simon Lalong who left his cabinet to join the Senate.
Tinubu, ex-Lagos governor, appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, three months after his inauguration. The Senate immediately screened and confirmed the ministers. One of the ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January while ex-Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, resigned and moved to the upper legislative chamber.
There have been growing calls for the President to reshuffle his cabinet as many Nigerians are not impressed by the performance of some of the ministers, especially in the face of unprecedented inflation, excruciating economic situation and rising insecurity.
Hannatu Musawa is the only minister who deservedly got additional responsibility as she will head the new ministry of tourism, culture and creative economy. She was previously minister of culture and creative economy, the president added tourism to her portpolio.
Despite the shake-up on Wednesday, 31 ministers were not affected; they were not sacked or redeployed.
They are:
They are:
1 MINISTER OF POWER – ADEBAYO ADELABU
2 MINISTER OF DEFENCE – MOHAMMED BADARU
3 MINISTER OF STATE, DEFENCE – BELLO MATAWALLE
4 MINISTER OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT – AHMED M. DANGIWA
5 MINISTER OF BUDGET & ECONOMIC PLANNING – ATIKU BAGUDU
6 MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES & SANITATION – JOSEPH UTSEV
7 MINISTER OF POLICE AFFAIRS – IBRAHIM GEIDAM
8 MINISTER OF STEEL DEVELOPMENT – SHUAIBU A. AUDU
9 MINISTER OF STATE, ENVIRONMENT – IZIAQ ADEKUNLE SALAKO
10 MINISTER OF FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY (FCT) – NYESOM WIKE
11 MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION – SA’IDU ALKALI
12 MINISTER OF STATE (GAS) PETROLEUM RESOURCES – EKPERIPE EKPO
13 MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT – BALARABE ABBAS LAWAL
14 MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY – ABUBAKAR KYARI
15 MINISTER OF STATE, AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY – ALIYU SABI ABDULLAHI
16 MINISTER OF INTERIOR – OLUBUNMI TUNJI-OJO
17 MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS – YUSUF M. TUGGAR
18 COORDINATING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE – ALI PATE
19 MINISTER OF AVIATION AND AEROSPACE DEVELOPMENT – FESTUS KEYAMO
20 MINISTER OF WORKS – DAVID UMAHI
21 MINISTER OF STATE (OIL) PETROLEUM RESOURCES – HEINEKEN LOKPOBIRI
22 MINISTER OF INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – UCHE NNAJI
23 MINISTER OF SOLID MINERALS DEVELOPMENT – DELE ALAKE
24 MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND NATIONAL ORIENTATION – MUHAMMED IDRIS
25 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE – LATEEF FAGBEMI
26 MINISTER OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS – ABUBAKAR MOMOH
27 MINISTER OF STATE, LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT– NKIRUKA ONYEJEOCHA
28 MINISTER OF SPECIAL DUTIES AND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS – ZEPHANIAH JISALO
29 MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, INNOVATION AND DIGITAL ECONOMY – BOSUN TIJANI
30 MINISTER OF FINANCE AND COORDINATING MINISTER OF THE ECONOMY – WALE EDUN
31 MINISTER OF MARINE AND BLUE ECONOMY – ADEGBOYEGA OYETOLA
