STRONG indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu is planning to rejig his cabinet to ease out underperforming ministers and aides.
Tinubu has been facing increasing pressure from within and outside his party, the All Progressives Congress, to sack ministers some of whom appeared to have been inactive.
The President had last year set up the Result and Delivery Unit, headed by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman, to measure the performance of ministers and other top government officials serving in his administration. He warned that any minister or aide that underperformed would be sacked.
Last week, Tinubu replaced the directors-general of the National Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Services after the heads of the agencies resigned their appointments.
Sources in the Presidency told this newspaper that a cabinet reshuffle is imminent very soon.
The officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter, revealed that some ministers would be dismissed, while others would be reassigned to other ministries for improved effectiveness.
However, the sources did not disclose the ministers likely to be affected.
“What I can tell you is some (ministers) will go and some aides too. 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”, the source stated.
Another source disclosed that Tinubu’s close associates agreed that the President required a stronger cabinet to implement his policies effectively.
The source stated, “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.”