•President may get ministers’ new assessment report this week, low-performing ministries under pressure
With President Bola Tinubu’s second anniversary in office barely a week away, the Central Results Delivery and Coordination Unit is racing to present him a fresh set of ministerial scorecards, multiple presidency sources told The PUNCH on Tuesday.
The scorecards will focus on the performance of the various ministries for the first quarter of 2025 as Tinubu’s administration enters its mid-term on May 29.
The confidential assessment, which covers the first quarter of 2025, is expected “any time from now,” one aide said, adding that under-performing ministries are already feeling the heat of renewed scrutiny.
The CDCU, an agency under the Presidency responsible for assessing ministers’ performance quarterly, is currently verifying performance reports of the various government ministries and assigning them scores, the official added.
Sources familiar with the exercise said each ministry uploaded evidence of projects and policy milestones to a secure CDCU portal last month.
Since then, a verification team led by the Unit’s head, Hadiza Bala-Usman, has been poring over the submissions and assigning scores against the performance bonds ministers signed at the October 2023 cabinet retreat.
The officials, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk about the matter, disclosed that Bala-Usman is working to transmit the reports to the President’s desk as soon as possible.
Asked about the assessment of some prominent cabinet members, an insider described the performance of many ministers as average, noting that only a few of them scored above average.
“The one minister who has done fairly well is the minister of works and a few others. When you look at the assessment of several others, they performed poorly in several critical metrics,” the official stated.
Even though the President is not expected to take any immediate action on the performance of any minister or ministry, the report is expected to provide Tinubu with the most up-to-date information on the performances of his cabinet members.
The information, sources said, will also help the President to engage some of his cabinet members or ministers on areas of improvement when necessary.
A top Presidency source close to the development said, “Officials of the various ministries have uploaded the reports of their activities and projects on the portal provided by the CDCU. These are based on deliverables that the ministries themselves have set.
“Officials of CDCU have done their detailed verifications and assessments of the uploaded projects. Scores have been assigned based on their findings. The final report for all the ministries is meant for the President.”
At the opening of the three-day Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries and top government functionaries on November 1, 2023, President Tinubu said ministers in his cabinet would only retain their offices based on performance, which would be reviewed quarterly.
“If you are performing, nothing to fear. If you miss the objective, we’ll review it. If no performance, you leave us. No one is an island, and the buck stops on my desk,” said the President.
In October 2024, the President rejigged his cabinet, and some ministers were asked to leave while others were reassigned to other portfolios.
The CDCU’s dossier was credited with informing the shake-up that led to the swapping of portfolios and resulted in the removal of two underperforming ministers after just 16 months in office.
The CDCU was established in June 2023, when Tinubu appointed Bala Usman, a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, as Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination.
Modelled on similar delivery units in the United Kingdom and Rwanda, its mandate is to track key performance indicators, publish quarterly dashboards and flag red-line projects for presidential intervention.
On October 17, 2023, Bala-Usman announced that her unit would begin transmitting quarterly reports to the President from January 2024, as all ministries had received their budgets for the 2024 fiscal year by then.
“We’re looking to commence an assessment of the respective ministries in January 2024. We’re going to have a quarterly assessment of performance, which would culminate in an annual scorecard,” the former NPA Chief explained in an interview on TVC.
That month, the unit trained at least 140 officials to track and assess the performance of federal ministries, departments and agencies.
The officers were drawn from 35 federal MDAs. They comprised a permanent secretary and directors of planning and other officials, four each from 35 ministries, officials told one of our correspondents.
Bala-Usman has repeatedly warned that the scorecards are more than academic.
At a media briefing in February 2025, she reminded ministers that “quarterly assessments will feed directly into presidential decisions,” noting that the Unit’s last report had already triggered “targeted conversations” and mid-term adjustments in at least three ministries.
“If your deliverables are slipping, the data will show it,” she said then.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, and Labour Party have criticised the President and his ministers over allegations of poor governance.
In an interview with The PUNCH, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, described Tinubu and his cabinet as a “monumental failure.”
The NNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, called for a cabinet reshuffle.
At the same time, the LP Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, urged the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to do more in addressing the issue of insecurity and economic hardship.
Reacting to the cost of living crisis resulting from Tinubu’s sharp economic reforms, the PDP says the performance of the ministers reflects President Tinubu’s leadership.
“You can’t give what you don’t have,” Ologunagba emphasised, arguing that the government has failed in every aspect.
“This government is a monumental failure; we can’t just talk about the ministers. They have failed in all aspects. The primary responsibility of every government is the security and welfare of the people, and with the killings and hardship, it is obvious that this government has failed.
“That’s why you see them now going into more of a panic mode of constantly governing by propaganda and lies. The one that is more pervasive is the issue of insecurity. There is no part of this country that’s immune to this cancer of insecurity.
“You recall President Tinubu saying that he was going to continue from where former President Muhammadu Buhari stopped. He has surpassed it in bringing more misery and death. He has brought sorrow to Nigerians. He has desecrated democracy as we knew it under the PDP.
“He has destroyed the economy. He has destroyed the livelihood of people. The health sector is in shambles. And so, in every aspect, this government has failed in providing the basic purpose of government. Which is security and the welfare of the people,” he stated.
When asked if the President should reshuffle his cabinet, Ologunagba described the APC-led government as unresponsive.
“When the government has demonstrated that it is deaf and impoverished in advice. Several people, particularly members of our party, the PDP, have made many suggestions, but this government does not listen.
“The government is deaf to Nigerians. And if it’s deaf to their feelings, it is insensitive to their sufferings.
“Also, the cabinet is a reflection of the leadership because the President is the one who appoints people into positions, right? So, if the government fails to provide security and welfare for the people, it means the President lacks the required leadership,” he said.
NNPP Publicity Secretary, Johnson, stated that it is time for President Tinubu to restructure his cabinet.
He expressed concern that Nigeria cannot continue operating at its present pace.
“It is time for President Tinubu to rejig his cabinet. It is time for him to do so. He really has to take stock and see whether he genuinely feels that we are moving in the right direction and at a reasonable pace, even if we are headed the right way.
“So, he probably needs a few new dynamic hands that can think outside the box to get some things done. We cannot continue at this level and pace and hope that things will be different. But, by May 29, our party, the NNPP, will come up with a comprehensive mid-term assessment of this administration.”
The LP scribe also urged the President to remove ministers who are not performing in their positions.
Ifon stated, “The President should deal with those who are not performing. If he finds that some are not living up to expectations, then of course, he should relieve such persons of their appointments. So, the buck stops on the President’s desk.
“We want a government that will focus more on security, economic development, and the overall well-being of Nigerians.”
The Chairman of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, highlighted lapses in the ministries of education, health and security, noting that all social sectors of the economy were not “doing well.”
He argued, “When you look at education, education is rotting. Therefore, the Minister of Education should be held accountable, as not all our educational institutions are being well-managed, especially public institutions.
“The implementation of their curriculum has been watered down to the extent that an average graduate cannot defend the degree that they brandish around. And nothing is being done to improve the condition of students and teachers at all levels of education, from Primary to University levels.
“In most institutions, everything is inadequate: facilities, equipment, materials, and motivation from the teachers and lecturers to teach them.”
Adeniran decried blame-shifting in the administration, saying, “Now, I do not know which ministry is even responsible for our security. Because when you talk about the Chief of Air Staff or the Chief of Defence Staff, they push it to the Minister of Defence, the Minister pushes it to the President. But what affects us is that there is no security of life and property, meaning that the purpose of government has been defeated.”
“Then, healthcare delivery, with all the secondary and tertiary health institutions, is no longer worth its name.
“The primary healthcare institutions, and all those working there, are not well-motivated.
“The healthcare delivery is also in shambles. Not all social sectors can be said to be doing well,” he added.
For his part, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, stated that while some ministers were determined to fulfil their assigned tasks, others appeared to be focused on ensuring the President’s re-election in 2027, and some were largely invisible in the government.
“I would say that some of the ministers appear to be determined to meet up with their assignments, their responsibilities, whereas the majority of the ministers are just sitting there because the mood of the nation, of recent, is not about governance, it is about the election.
“Therefore, many ministers are just working hard to impress and show the President that they are working for his second term, not necessarily as ministers,” said Rafsanjani.
He called for the public dissemination of the CDCU’s report, saying, “Mr President has someone who is supposed to be evaluating the ministers in person of Hadiza Bala-Usman. The public did not hear or receive any report from her concerning the evaluation of ministers’ performance.
“Therefore, there is no willingness by the government to demonstrate how well some ministers are performing and meeting their responsibilities.
“In terms of real work that you can see a minister working, there are very few of them that you can pass that remark on.”
He continued, “The second issue is that some of the ministers, even before this campaign mood, appear to be on a low profile, Nigerians are not hearing much of them, or much about what they are doing.
“This is simply because some of the ministers were brought in to fulfil the political obligation of Mr President to put his guys there, and then be able to meet up with the constitutional provision of every state having one minister.”
Although insiders say Tinubu is unlikely to announce sackings before the May 29 commemorations, the upcoming report will guide one-on-one reviews with ministers and shape the next cabinet reshuffle.
When asked for comments, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the performance report as ‘’a routine to keep the ministers and agency heads on their toes.”
(Punch)
