Tinubu getting ready to change ministers, aide says

President Bola Tinubu is preparing to reshuffle his cabinet, and the move could take place before October 1, according to his spokesperson.

Bayo Onanuga, the president’s media aide, confirmed the development during a press briefing on Wednesday, as reported by Premium Times.

“The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet, and he will do it. I don’t know whether he wants to do it before October 1, but he will surely do it,” Onanuga said.

While no specific timeline has been provided, the reshuffle is expected to see some ministers dropped and others reassigned to different ministries.

Many of the ministers in Mr Tinubu’s cabinet have been widely criticized for underperforming, with Nigerians expressing frustration over their inability to address critical national issues. Public sentiment has been particularly harsh regarding the government’s failure to provide meaningful solutions to the economic hardships many Nigerians face.

Several ministers, seen as politically connected but lacking the necessary experience or competence, have been unable to implement effective policies in their respective portfolios.

This criticism mirrors the broader dissatisfaction with President Tinubu’s administration. Nigerians rate the government poorly, largely due to the severe cost-of-living crisis that followed the removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the naira. The resulting inflation, coupled with skyrocketing fuel and transportation costs, has pushed millions of Nigerians further into poverty, straining households across the country.

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Mr Onanuga said that Mr Tinubu has urged his ministers to do more to communicate the administration’s efforts. According to him, the president issued a directive at the last Federal Executive Council meeting, instructing ministers to engage more with the public.

“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,” Mr Onanuga said.

“The feeling out there is that the government is not doing enough, but the government has been doing a lot. It’s up to them to go out there and blow their own trumpet.”

Mr Tinubu’s cabinet, which was appointed in August 2023, consists of 45 ministers, with key posts given mostly to politicians, many of whom have been criticized for lacking the capabilities required to perform in their roles.