… Ministers discharged, not sacked — Presidency
..Meet 7 new ministerial nominees and their portfolios
Months after growing calls for President Bola Tinubu to rejig his cabinet, the former Lagos State governor on Wednesday sacked five of his ministers.
He also re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios and appointed seven new ministers for Senate confirmation.
Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, three months after his inauguration.
The Senate immediately screened and confirmed the ministers. One of the ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January while another, Simon Lalong, moved to the Senate.
There have been growing calls for the President to reshuffle his cabinet as many Nigerians are not impressed by the performance of some of the ministers, especially in the face of unprecedented inflation, excruciating economic situation and rising insecurity.
In September, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the President would reshuffle his cabinet but didn’t give a time to the reorganisation.
On Wednesday, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the President sacked Uju-Ken Ohanenye as Minister of Women Affairs; Lola Ade-John as Minister of Tourism; Tahir Mamman as Minister of Education; Abdullahi Gwarzo as Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development; and Jamila Ibrahim as Minister of Youth Development.
Tinubu subsequently nominated Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu as the Minister of State Foreign Affairs, while Nentawe Yilwatda as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, officially bringing an end to the tenure of suspended Betta Edu.
The President also nominated Maigari Dingyadi as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Jumoke Oduwole as the Minister of Industry, Idi Maiha as Minister for the newly created Livestock Development Ministry, Yusuf Ata as the Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development, with Suwaiba Ahmad as Minister of State Education.
Scrapped Ministries
Earlier on Wednesday, the President scrapped the Ministry of Niger Delta Development and announced the Ministry of Regional Development as a replacement to oversee the activities of all the regional development commissions.
The regional development commissions to be under the supervision of the new ministry are the Niger Delta Development Commission, the South East Development Commission, the North East Development and the North West Development Commission.
Tinubu also scrapped the Ministry of Sports Development and transferred its functions to the National Sports Commission to “develop a vibrant sports economy”.
The President further approved the merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
Ex-Minister Dare In
The cabinet reshuffle saw Sunday Dare, former Minister of Sports during the Muhammadu Buhari administration, bag a new appointment.
“The appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports Commission.
“The appointment of Sunday Akin Dare as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation,” the President said.
The President appreciated the outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council for their service to the nation while wishing them the best in their future endeavours.
He then charged the newly appointed ministers as well as their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation.
He added that all appointees must understand the administration’s eagerness and determination to set Nigeria on the path to irreversible growth and invest the best of their abilities into the actualisation of the government’s priorities.
Meet 7 new ministerial nominees and their portfolios
Below are the lists of the newly nominated Ministers
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu is a distinguished diplomat, lawyer, businesswoman, and former beauty queen. In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her as Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs. She subsequently served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ghana and later as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain. Currently, she represents Nigeria at the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Bianca, who is the widow of Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has also earned numerous international pageant titles.
Maigari Dingyadi
Maigari Dingyadi, hailing from Sokoto, served as Nigeria’s Minister of Police Affairs from August 2019 to May 2023. A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria (1978), Dingyadi has a strong political background, having represented Bodinga Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He has also served as Secretary to the Sokoto State Government and Chairman of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) in Abuja.
Jumoke Oduwole
Jumoke Oduwole is an academic, advisor, and public speaker. From August 2019 to May 2023, she held the position of Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business. Before this, she served as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade & Investment in the Office of the Vice President. Oduwole is currently on leave from her position as Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, where she specializes in Jurisprudence and International Law.
Nentawe Yilwatda
Nentawe Yilwatda, an engineer and community developer from Plateau State, is a registered professional with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He has lectured at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, in Benue State. In 2017, former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where he served as Resident Electoral Commissioner for Benue State.
Idi Maiha
Idi Maiha is the Chairman and CEO of Zaidi Farms Limited, based in Kaduna. He previously served as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s energy sector.
Yusuf Ata
Yusuf Ata is a seasoned educator and former Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly. From 2003 to 2007, he served as Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Assembly Matters and later as Special Adviser on Inter-Governmental Affairs.
Suwaiba Ahmad
Suwaiba Ahmad is an educationist and gender advocate. She is a lecturer at Bayero University, Kano, and currently directs the Centre for Gender Studies. Throughout her academic career, Ahmad has held several positions, including level coordinator, examination officer, PG coordinator, Sub Dean Academics, and Head of the Department of Science Education.
Cabinet reshuffle: Ministers discharged, not sacked — Presidency
Meanwhile, the Presidency has made some clarification regarding President Bola Tinubu’s reshuffling of his cabinet.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said ministers were not sacked but discharged.
Speaking with TVC, Onanuga said the term “sacked” does not accurately describe their departure.
“Ministers were not sacked; they were discharged,” he said.
