In a major cabinet shake-up, President Bola Tinubu has sacked five ministers, reassigned 10 others, and nominated seven new ministers for Senate confirmation, following months of mounting pressure for a cabinet reshuffle. This move comes amidst widespread dissatisfaction with the performance of certain ministers, particularly in the face of surging inflation, a struggling economy, and escalating insecurity.
Tinubu, who originally appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, made the changes during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday. The shake-up saw the dismissal of Uju-Ken Ohanenye (Women Affairs), Lola Ade-John (Tourism), Tahir Mamman (Education), Abdullahi Gwarzo (State, Housing and Urban Development), and Jamila Ibrahim (Youth Development).
Among the new nominees are notable figures such as Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu, who has been tapped as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Nentawe Yilwatda, the new Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. The shake-up also brought an end to the tenure of suspended Betta Edu.
Tinubu has restructured several ministries, scrapped the Ministry of Niger Delta Development and replaced it with the Ministry of Regional Development to oversee all regional development commissions, including the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Southeast Development Commission. Additionally, the Ministry of Sports Development has been dissolved, with its functions transferred to the National Sports Commission.
In another significant change, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Arts and Culture have been merged to form the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy.
Sunday Dare, former Minister of Sports under the Buhari administration, has been appointed as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation, working under the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
President Tinubu expressed his gratitude to the outgoing ministers for their service, urging the newly appointed and reassigned ministers to bring their best efforts to further the administration’s ambitious goals for Nigeria’s growth and development.
