President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made significant changes to his cabinet in a bid to cut costs and enhance efficiency. In a surprise move, he sacked five ministers, appointed seven new ones, and reassigned ten others.
Sacked Ministers:
- Minister of Women Affairs: Uju Ken-Ohaneye
- Minister of Education: Tahir Mamman
- Minister of Tourism: Lola Ade-John
- Minister of Housing: Abdullahi Gwarzo
- Minister of Youth Development: Jamilo Bio Ibrahim
New Appointees:
- Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction: Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda
- Minister of Labour and Employment: Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi
- Minister of State for Foreign Affairs: Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu
- Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (Trade and Investment): Dr. Jumoke Oduwole
- Minister of Livestock Development: Idi Mukhtar Maiha
- Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development: Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata
- Minister of State Education: Suwaiba Said Ahmad PhD
The two additional appointments are to fill the vacant positions left by Betta Edu’s Humanitarian and Simon Lalung’s Labour ministries.
In addition to the personnel changes, President Tinubu also scrapped two ministries: the Ministry of Sports, which has been dissolved into the National Sports Commission, and the Ministry of Niger Delta, which has been restructured into five regional development commissions:
- Niger Delta Development Commission_
- North West Development Commission_
- South East Development Commission_
- South West Development Commission_
- North East Development Commission_
The Ministry of Tourism has been merged with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.
While President Tinubu thanked the outgoing ministers for their service and wished them well, many Nigerians remain skeptical about the impact of these changes. Some had expected more significant shake-ups, particularly the removal of the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, who has been criticized for the frequent national grid collapses.