By Uche Onyeali, AbujaÂ
President Bola Tinubu yesterday came up with the much-awaited reshuffling of his cabinet with the sacking of five ministers and nomination of seven new ones for Senate confirmation.
Among the seven ministerial nominees is Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, widow of the leader of the defunct Republic of Biafra, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
The president nominated Amb. Ojukwu for confirmation as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Also nominated by the president are Nentawe Yilwatda as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, to replace the suspended Betta Edu.
Tinubu also nominated Maigari Dingyadi as the Minister of Labour and Employment; Jumoke Oduwole as the Minister of Industry; Idi Maiha for the newly created Livestock Development Ministry; Yusuf Ata as Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, and Suwaiba Ahmad as Minister of State for Education.
The president also re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios.
The president also announced the sacking of 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 for Housing and Urban Development, and Jamila Ibrahim as Minister of Youth Development.
The president appreciated the outgoing ministers 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 ones to see their appointments as a call to serve the nation.
Tinubu 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.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu yesterday at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting in the State House, Abuja, scrapped the Niger Delta Ministry, and the Ministry of Sports Development.
The decisions was announced on the X handle of the Special Adviser to the president on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the post, there will now be Ministry of Regional Development to oversee the activities of all the Regional Development Commissions, namely the Niger Delta Development Commission, South-East Development Commission, North-East Development and the North-West Development Commission.
Similarly, functions of the Ministry of Sports Development was transferred to the National Sports Commission in order to develop a vibrant sports economy.
Tinubu also merged the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
The Minster of Niger Delta, Abubakar Momoh was reappointed to lead the new Ministry of Regional Development while John Enoh was redeployed from the Ministry of Sports as the new Minister of State for Trade and Investment [Industry].
Shehu Dikko was appointed as Chairman of the National Sports Commission.
The development followed recent clamour for a reduction in the number of ministries and political office holders in the country to cut cost of governance.
It would be recalled that AljazirahNigeria had earlier predicted…
