Amid speculations that President Bola Tinubu would effect a cabinet reshuffle when his administration clocks two years on May 29, the North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has expressed concern over the performance of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

Yilwatda, from Plateau State, was appointed minister during an earlier cabinet reshuffle on October 23, 2024.

He was appointed to fill the ministerial slot of the state, which became vacant after Senator Simon Lalong, initially appointed Minister of Labour and Employment, resigned his position, to take up his seat in the Senate after the Supreme Court declared him the rightful winner of the Plateau South senatorial election.

Plateau State did not have a minister for about eight months until Yilwatda was appointed to replace Lalong.

However, seven months later, the forum argued that the high expectations that greeted Yilwatda’s appointment and his deployment to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction had not been met.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the forum, comprising North-Central stakeholders of the APC, said it was forced to speak out due to what it described as the poor response of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to the humanitarian crisis in Plateau State, arising from unending attacks on indigenous communities, as well as other humanitarian issues in different parts of the country.

The statement read in part: “As stakeholders, who are connected to the grassroots, we can sincerely report that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has not done enough to address humanitarian issues which affect the ordinary Nigerians in rural communities.

“Specifically, indigenous communities in the North-Central are facing enormous humanitarian challenges. In several communities, hundreds of people have been displaced in attacks by invading gunmen.”

While the security forces continue to engage the assailants, the displaced people have not received the succour that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction is expected to provide.

“Helpless persons are left to fend for themselves with no help coming from the government institution that is mandated to help them. This is also the situation in other parts of the country, not just in the North-Central.

“The impact of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. NentaweYilwatda, has not been felt, even in Plateau State, where he comes from. Many people in Plateau don’t even know that the state has a minister.”

The group claimed that Yilwatda had not taken it upon himself to visit the communities where the attacks occurred or visit the displaced persons, most of whom are taking refuge in church premises.