There are indications that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu might make a slight reallocation of portfolios in the federal cabinet following the inauguration of two ministers to fill the vacant positions caused by the resignation of two former occupants.
Sources within the Presidency hinted that, with the Federal Cabinet now comprising a full complement of 48 ministers and distractions arising from the United States President Donald Trump’s warning about human rights abuses and slow action against insecurity, the President may undertake another minor rearrangement of portfolios among the Ministers.
On October 23, 2024, the President carried out a major cabinet reshuffle, during which he dismissed five Ministers and appointed seven new ones, while reassigning 10 others to new Ministries. The Finance, Defence, National Planning, and the two Ministers of State for Petroleum retained their posts.
Signs that the cabinet reshuffle was imminent emerged last Wednesday after the President inaugurated two Ministers from Plateau and Enugu States without assigning them portfolios.
While Dr Bernard Mohammed Doro, from Plateau State, was coming as a replacement for Prof. Nenatwe Yilwatda, the immediate past Humanitarian Affairs Minister, who was elected as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh SAN was brought in from Enugu State to take the place of Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, who resigned as Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation after an alleged certificate scandal.
Doro is a Pharmacist, while Udeh, who recently received his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is a lawyer and the immediate past Attorney General of Enugu State.
Although many had anticipated that the cabinet reshuffle would take place after the country’s 65th independence anniversary, the President’s several international engagements intervened, necessitating the need to fill the existing vacancies.
In a statement after the President’s action last year, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Strategy, explained that the cabinet reshuffle was not conclusive but an ongoing process, pointing out that the President introduced new ministers for Humanitarian and Poverty Reduction, Education, Housing, Labour, Livestock Development, and Ministers of State for Foreign Affairs, Education, and Housing.
According to Onanuga, the five ministers relieved of their offices included those from Education, Tourism, Women’s Affairs, Youth Development, and the junior minister.
Meanwhile, Tinubu has approved the appointment of five new Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service to fill existing vacancies, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) announced on Monday.
The newly appointed Permanent Secretaries are Ibrahim Abdulkarim Ozi (Federal Capital Territory), Ezemama John Chidiebere (Imo State), Garba Abdul Sule Usman (North Central Geo-Political Zone), Mohammed Musa Ishiyaku (North East Geo-Political Zone) and Ukaire Binyerem Chigbowu (South East Geo-Political Zone).
