Outrage Over President Tinubu’s Cabinet Shake Up

Reactions have continued to trail President Bola Tinubu’s scrapping of ministries and sacking of some ministers with major opposition parties describing it as a distraction to cover his administration’s incompetence.

The Deputy National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Timothy Osadolor, described the move as a domestic arrangement deployed to distract the hungry masses.

He said, “How can you replace filthy rags with another set of filthy rags? Those are cosmetic arrangements to deceive Nigerians. The real issue is that the President is malfunctioning in administration. The Nigerian masses are hungry and dying. What they need is no changing of ministers and renaming of ministries. The people need security, jobs, power and above all, Nigerians need stability.”

The National Chairman, Social Democratic Party, Shehu Gabam, added that the government was paying lip service to Nigerians’ call for improvement.

“Merging ministries or taking out a few ministers wouldn’t bring any noticeable change. He needs to focus on changing the strategic sectors that need immediate action,” Gabam said.

“Our consistent advice to this government is to inject capacity. I believe 75 per cent of this cabinet needs to go. The people that surround him (Tinubu) cannot help his government. There is no need to pretend about it.

“You cannot keep having an economic sector that sucks the citizens out with a very draconian policy of taxation like the ministry of finance, Inland Revenue service and so on at a period when there is over 50 per cent of poverty, unemployment and food shortages ravaging the country. Even the Minister of Agriculture is not effective. In truth, the Ministry of Agriculture needs to be decentralised while the Federal Government works together with each state government on this.

“In the basic area of health challenges, I don’t know of any single facility that has been built as a referral hospital. Yet, Nigeria is the giant of Africa. So, for me, it’s lip service. As I said earlier, 75 per cent of this cabinet is not functioning, and he must bring in competent people irrespective of their parties. He is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His primary responsibility is to elevate the living standards and welfare of Nigerians.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, raised concerns over the government’s failure to address pressing issues affecting the welfare of the masses.

According to him, subsuming, scrapping ministries and appointing new ministers were not the solutions

He said, “That he scrapped the Niger Delta and sports development ministries is not what Nigerians are looking for. Those two ministries have no direct impact on the economic situation in the country. There is hunger in the land. One will expect this government to begin to tinker on economic realities and how to move this nation from the doldrums. It is not about the number of ministers or ministries.”

Also, new National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Sylvester Ezeokenwa, stated, “If not for anything, there have been calls for the President to institute more economic reforms, even though there are still some key ministries that we already expected him to do more. So, for me, there are no ‘ifs and buts’ to it. There are no excuses. You can’t continue to give the long-suffering Nigerians excuses for any maladministration or poor performance.”

Meanwhile, Nigerians demanded further cabinet reshuffling that aligned with leadership and governance priorities necessary to address the country’s pressing challenges.

Citizens, while expressing their views on social media platforms, stressed that Tinubu should have sacked more ministers.

Some expressed shock that the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola and Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu were not relieved of their duties.

The criticism of Matawalle may not be unconnected with the insecurity in some parts of the country while that of Adebalu could be linked to the incessant blackouts resulting from a series of grid collapses, as well as electricity tariff hikes.

“Despite the cabinet reshuffle – removing some ineffective officials, key figures like Bello Matawalle, (Gboyega) Oyetola, and (Adebayo) Adelabu remain in their positions. Their removal could have paved the way for more competent leadership in critical ministries,” an X user, @ArakunrinSugar stated on Wednesday.

“I hope the minister of power is on the list of the sacked ministers,” asked @gani_jonathan.

“President Tinubu is not serious, if Bayo Adelabu, Wale Edun and Ali Pate still retain their jobs,” @OyiboChijioke stated.

Another user, @dosunmusg, also asked “Where’s the Minister of Petroleum?”

“Today’s (Wednesday) restructuring of ministries by President Tinubu shows that the President has merely scratched the surface of our nation’s main challenges. In government, there are key ministries such as Finance, Defence, Agriculture, Works, Education, Petroleum, Budget and Planning, Power, and Health, whose performance largely shapes public perception of the administration.

“Unfortunately, many of those leading these key ministries have fallen short of expectations. It is clear that they have exhausted their ideas and that they cannot provide the necessary solutions. If the President is truly committed to meaningful change, he should focus on these key ministries. The removal of ministers in charge of Women’s Affairs, Tourism, Housing and Urban Development, and other non-core sectors will do little to alleviate the hardships currently faced by the masses,” @Lekebiz324 wrote.

@Nwafresh said sacking the ministers while retaining the petroleum minister was “a joke.”

“Sacking them based on poor performance and not including the minister of petroleum makes the entire process a joke! The minister of petroleum is supposed to top the sacking list,” the user wrote. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) is Heineken Lokpobiri.

Other persons also asked about the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. @Imeeeokon wrote, “How about the FCT Minister?”

A netizen, @WChappjumbo, said the removal of Women Affairs minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye was long overdue. “We wish her well in her future endeavours,” the user wrote.

Meanwhile, @chuksonuorahma sought the restatement of the women’s affairs minister, saying she “is by far the most passionate and active minister in the Federal Executive Council. Please reinstate her.”Elder statesman and Convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, expressed his dismay over the decision of the FEC to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

In a phone conversation with our correspondent on Wednesday, Elder stateman, Edwin Clark described the move as unjustified and detrimental to the region’s development.

“What I’ve noted so far is that there’s no basis for scrapping it. Yar’Adua had a clear purpose to address the security situation in the Niger Delta, which led to the creation of the ministry focused on developing that area. We have been working for some time now, managing our commissions,” he said.

Clark emphasised that the ministry’s existence was not merely about its administrative structure, but about fulfilling the specific needs of the Niger Delta.

He lamented the lack of tangible development, pointing out the stalled progress of major projects like the East-West Road, which had been handed over to the Ministry of Works without any significant progress under the Niger Delta Ministry.

“Why would you take over a ministry without any developmental plans, funding, or concrete actions? Even the East-West Road, which was meant to be under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is not being addressed; it has been handed back to the Ministry of Works.”

“What I’m saying is that the Federal Government lacks special arrangement for this. When I saw that every region was establishing its own development centres or commissions, I anticipated these issues would arise.”