Tinubu Begins Plan To Clean Up Cabinet

President Bola Tinubu is preparing to initiate a novel three-step approach for evaluating the performance of Ministers and heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as he approaches the completion of his first year in office.

This innovative strategy aims to incorporate public opinion into the decision-making process regarding the retention or dismissal of cabinet members and key agency leaders by May 29, 2024.

Insiders from the Presidential Villa in Abuja disclosed to BusinessDay that the President intends to launch the feedback platform on Tuesday.

This digital platform is designed to gather assessments from Nigerians on the performance of each minister and their contributions to the administration’s objectives.

However, the inauguration of this feedback mechanism has been postponed to the following week.

The delay allows for the finalization of necessary preparations by the office of the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, led by Hadiza Bala-Usman.

This extension is to ensure the platform is fully operational and capable of capturing comprehensive and insightful feedback from the citizenry.

The source said, “This will be done at three different levels. First, you have members of the public who can through the platform, get relevant information on the President Bola Tinubu’s targets for each Ministry and through that give feedback on the performance of each Minister based on the targets provided.

“The next stage will be evaluation carried out by the Policy Coordination office, and lastly, a group of Consultants will also give their assessments on the Ministers performance

“So, these will be the basis for determining which Minister stays and those that will leave the cabinet because of poor performance.”

Bala-Usman had earlier in the year indicated that President Tinubu “will drop ministers who do not deliver on their mandates.”

She had stated this at the opening of a technical retreat organised for delivery desk officers of federal ministries, to train them on implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital.

Usman warned that “President is serious about delivering on his promise to make life better and easier for Nigerians.

“You must understand that as ministerial delivery desk officers you are the engine room that will provide that feedback and constantly track ministerial progress and report challenges and bottle to the CDCU.”

The retreat, according to her, “was to introduce the delivery officers to the framework of the delivery chain for progress tracking and build the officers’ capacity on monitoring of the delivery plan”

The President had tasked the Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, soon after the Ministerial retreat on November 3rd, 2023, to “immediately activate the performance tracking system in a way that maximally leverages on cutting- edge digital innovation to provide real time oversight capability for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

The President also charged the Ministers to demonstrate diligence, innovative thinking, commitment, and an unrelenting focus on resul, added that “I want to reiterate that the Renewed Hope Agenda is about more than just economic growth.

“It is also about building a more just and equitable society for all Nigerians. It is about creating jobs, improving education and healthcare, and reducing poverty. It is about ensuring that all Nigerians have the opportunity to succeed.

“I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am confident we can achieve our goals. We have a strong team in place, and we are committed to working together to build a better future for Nigeria.

“Let me remind you that our people are not interested in excuses, political games, or procrastination. Neither am I. They are interested in tangible results. They seek solutions to the problems that have long plagued our great nation. The challenge before us demands that we must put aside personal ambitions and focus on adhering to the performance bond we have all signed up to on this day. These performance bonds represent a contract we must uphold.”

The President also emphasized the importance of data in governance, saying: “Data is the life- blood of effective governance. It enables us to understand the challenges we face so that we can design and implement effective solutions as well as monitor and evaluate our progress. Without data, we are flying blind.”

It was also gathered on Monday that the Policy Coordination Office will rely mostly on the recommendations made at the first Ministerial retreat, in assessing the achievements of each Minister.