- President scraps two ministries, merges two others
- Sunday Dare returns as Special Adviser on public communications
- Sacked, redeployed ministers to hand over October 30
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday sacked five members of his cabinet as well as redeploying 10 others and appointing seven new ones.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this to newsmen at the State House, Abuja after the Federal Executive Council meeting.
He said the five sacked Ministers include: Uju-Ken Ohanenye (Women Affairs); Lola Ade-John (Tourism); Prof Tahir Mamman (Education); Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo (State, Housing and Urban Development) and Jamila Bio Ibrahim (Youth Development).
The 10 redeployed Ministers include Yusuf Tanko Sununu, former Minister of State, Education now Minister of State Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction; Morufu Olatunji Alausa, Minister State, Health now Minister of Education; Bello Muhammad Goronyo Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation now Minister of State Works; Abubakar Eshiokpekha Momoh, Minister of Niger Delta Development now Minister of Regional Development and Uba Maigari Ahmadu Minister of State Steel Development now Minister of State Regional Development.
Other reassigned Ministers are Doris Uzoka-Anite Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment now Minister of State
Finance; John Owan Enoh, Minister of Sports Development now Minister of State Trade and Investment (Industry); Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of State, Police Affairs now Minister of Women Affairs; Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State for Youth Development now Minister for Youth Development and Salako Iziaq Adekunle Adeboye, Minister of State, Environment now Minister of State, Health.
Onanuga listed the new Ministers whose appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate to include Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction); Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi (Labour & Employment); Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu (State, Foreign Affairs); and Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Investment.
Others are Idi Mukhtar, Maiha (Livestock Development); Yusuf Abdullahi Ata (State, Housing and Urban
Development) and Suwaiba Said Ahmad (State, Education).
President Tinubu has also scrapped the Niger Delta Ministry and the Ministry of Sports Development.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated that there will now be a Ministry of Regional Development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission and North East Development Commission.
He said the National Sports Commission will now take over the role of the Ministry of Sports.
The Federal Executive Council also approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.
The decisions, Onanuga said, were taken on Wednesday at the FEC meeting in Abuja.
Sunday Dare returns as Special Adviser on public communications
In the same vein, President Tinubu has appointed Sunday Dare as Special Adviser on Public Communications and Orientation.
Dare, who is the Agbaakin of Ogbomoso, served as the Minister of Youths and Sports Development under the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari.
The presidency shared this via a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
“President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate implementation of eight far-reaching actions to reinvigorate the Administration’s capacity for optimal efficiency pursuant of his commitment to deliver on his promises to Nigerians,” the Presidency stated.
Dare, an accomplished journalist, was part of the founding team of weekly magazines The News and Tempo and worked in the United States.
He was born on May 29, 1966. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Studies, Second Class Upper from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Masters in International Law with a Distinction from the University of Jos, Plateau State.
Dare has at different times been an Oxford University, United Kingdom Research Fellow; Harvard Nieman Journalism Fellow; and New York University Freedom Forum Fellow.
He also served as Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management) at the Nigerian Communications Commission following his appointment in August 2016.
The council meeting had almost all members present, with the exception of a very few, who were said to be out of the country for various national assignments.
Those absent at the meeting included Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is currently attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia, Samoa.
Also absent at the meeting were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; Power, Adebayo Adelabu; Environment, Professor Joseph Utsev; and the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Shortly before the commencement of the FEC meeting, the president sworn-in Abdullahi Usman Bello as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Speaking to newsmen after his swearing-in, the new CCB Chairman, Bello, outlined his commitment to addressing corruption through the commission, Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agency.
Sacked, redeployed ministers to hand over October 30
Similarly, President Tinubu has ordered redeployed and sacked ministers to hand over to their successors on or before October 30, 2024.
Tinubu noted that in ministries where there are no ministers to hand over to, the outgoing Ministers should hand over to the Permanent Secretaries.
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.
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 out-going 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.
“Similarly, the renaming and the expansion of the mandate of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development is to take immediate effect.
“The releasing supervising authorities as well as commissions under the new ministry have been duly notified of this development.
“Respective Permanent Secretaries are directed to ensure seamless implementation and also forward one copy of each of the handover notes to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the records.”
Akume listed the agencies under the new Ministry of Regional Development as Niger Delta, Development Commission; South East, Development Commission; North East, Development and North West Development.
Rep member praises Tinubu for scrapping Sports Ministry
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Kabiru Amadu, has commended President Tinubu for scrapping the Ministry of Sports Development.
In a statement issued by his media team in Abuja, Amadu said the decision was a welcome development and supported by the National Assembly.
He said, “I think Mr. President should be highly commended for this bold decision to return the sports sector to a commission.
“This has always been the position of the House Committee on Sports; that a Sports Commission is what the country needs for effective growth of the sector.
“Mr. President just spoke the minds of many sports stakeholders and we hope this is the beginning of a new chapter that will enhance the development of our sports.”
The chairman stressed that the move would pave the way for the right professionals to manage the sports sector in the country.
Clark faults Niger Delta ministry dissolution
However, Elder statesman and Convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Edwin Clark, has expressed his dismay over the recent decision of the Federal Executive Council to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
Clark described the move as unjustified and detrimental to the region’s development.
Clark said the news of the ministry’s dissolution came as a surprise, given the critical role it was created to play, noting that late President Musa Yar’Adua established the ministry with a clear mandate to address the security challenges in the region and promote 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 commission,” 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 development 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 arrangements for this. When I saw that every region was establishing its development centres or commissions, I anticipated these issues would arise,” he said.
He also pointed to the larger issue of Federal Government disengagement from the region’s development efforts, noting that during the 2014 National Conference, there were agreements to increase revenue allocation to the oil-producing regions from 13% to 18% and to allocate 5% of the federation account annually to regions affected by conflict.
“I remember during the national conference in 2014, it was decided to increase the revenue allocation to the regions from 13% to 25%. Ultimately, it was settled at 18%, but we disagreed, which led to further discussions about a separate fund to support development post-Boko Haram,” he said.
Clark further warned that scrapping the ministry without a replacement plan could create further discontent, stating “We will not allow it to be scrapped. The government cannot use South-South resources to develop other regions while neglecting the Niger Delta.”