. Assessment reports handed over to President before now
. List of Ministers to be redeployed, sacked ready
. Cabinet reshuffle’ll be based on Ministers’ performance, says Presidency
Samuel Adesola, Abuja
Following Presidency’s confirmation on Wednesday of an impending cabinet reshuffle by President Bola Tinubu, fears have gripped some serving Ministers, Daily Newshub has learnt.
Presidency, on Wednesday, confirmed that President Tinubu will be carrying out a cabinet reshuffle soon.
But it noted that the exercise, which has no timeline yet, will be evidence-based, adding that Tinubu will be aided in his decision on the fate of his individual ministers by public opinions that have been “empirically extracted.”
Recall that Tinubu appointed his Ministers in August last year.
Impeccable Presidency sources, however, said that President Tinubu has since been in possession of the reports on the performance of each of his Ministers, which he had been studying as part of the assessment process that will eventually determine their fate.
The President, it was learnt also has a ready list of the Ministers to be redeployed as well as those to be shown the door outright from his cabinet.
“President Tinubu already has his list. He has gone through the report on each of his Ministers. Barring any last minute change of heart, he has listed those to be redeployed and those to be sacked,” an impeccable Presidency source said on Wednesday night.
It was further learnt that some Ministers who have been “found wanting” in their performance have since become worried and have been seeking means to escape the President’s hammer.
Many of the Ministers in this category are said to be “very worried about their fate” in the event of the cabinet reshuffle, which may see them being redeployed from their current ministries or kicked out completely from the Tinubu administration.
Some of them, it was learnt are already seeking the assistance of political godfathers and other “powerful figures” in the Presidency so that they can retain their appointment in Tinubu’s cabinet.
But Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, while addressing State House Correspondents on Wednesday alongside Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, O’tega Ogra, said there is no timeline as to when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will reshuffle his cabinet.
Onanuga said although the President had indicated plan to reshuffle his cabinet, he could not be categorical about when he will carry out the process.
“I don’t have any timeline. The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet and he will do it. I don’t know whether he’s going to do it before October 1, but he will surely do it. So that’s what I will say. He has not given us any timeline he’ll do it, but he will do it. He has expressed his plan he wants to do it”, the presidential spokesperson said.
Making further clarification on the matter, Ogra disclosed that President Tinubu would be guided by an empirical process, which is the performance indicator being coordinated by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and head of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman.
“We also need to realize that the President’s decision to reshuffle is also based on empirical evidence. He said during the retreat for the ministers that they were going to have periodic reviews, and the decisions that are extracted from these reviews will be used to make that final decision.
“I know he’s gotten a couple of reports, and as Mr. Onanuga said, when he’s ready to do that, I believe he will”, Ogra said.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has directed his Ministers to actively promote his government’s achievements.
The presidential spokesperson said Tinubu directed the Ministers to go out and publicize the administration’s successes.
Onanuga said, “The President has given an order to all his ministers at the last federal Executive Council meeting to go out there and speak about the activities of his administration.
“Some of them have been media shy, television shy, radio shy, and he wants them to overcome all that and go out there and speak about what they have been doing.
“Because the feeling out there is that the government is not doing enough and the government has been doing a lot. It is up to them to go out there and blow their own trumpet. They should go out there and talk about what their ministries have been doing.”
