Ministers and their godfathers intensify lobbying as Tinubu's cabinet shake-up is imminent

NIGERIAN cabinet ministers have intensified lobbying over the last few weeks as fear grips Abuja ahead of plans by President Bola Tinubu to reshuffle his cabinet and drop non-performing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

After about a year-and-a-half in office, President Tinubu is planning on a cabinet shake-up, to purge the FEC of ministers who are not performing. This development has sent several ministers scurrying around Abuja, as they and their political godfathers have stepped up lobbying to retain their positions.

One presidential aide said: “Yes, that is a typical thing. Some of the ministers will be calling their godfathers to influence the president. It is a normal thing but the president will still do what is on his mind for the country.”

Some ministers, who are afraid of being dropped have intensified lobbying, seeking the intervention of the president’s allies and associates, including his chief of staff, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. One senior aide said Hon Gbajabiamila had expressed concern over the intense lobbying and pressure on President Tinubu by those seeking assurances on the fate of their protégés in the cabinet.

He added:  “Due to the intense pressure, the chief of staff had to advise the president to take some days off in the UK after concluding the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in China two weeks ago. Remember that for some days, Nigerians did not know about Tinubu’s whereabouts but after pictures of his meeting with King Charles surfaced online, people started speculating that he went to London for medical checks.

"The fact is that he was advised to spend a few days to allow the pressure and lobbying to subside. Anyway, it is not unusual for politicians to lobby on behalf of their wards but Nigerians are not satisfied with the performance of many of the ministers and the president would have no choice but to let them go. If you are not performing, you have to go, regardless of who your godfather is."

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, added: “Let me tell you, I don’t have any timeline but the president has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet and he will do it. I don’t know whether he’s going to do it before October 1 but he will surely do it, so, that’s what I will say.

“Some of the ministers have been media shy, television shy, radio shy and he wants them to overcome all that and go out there and speak about what they have been doing because the feeling out there is that government is not doing enough and the government has been doing a lot. It is up to them to go out there and blow their own trumpet. They should go out there and talk about what their ministries have been doing.”

There are already strong indications that the president may scrap the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation as part of the cabinet rejig. It is also believed that some portfolios may split and others merged, while some ministers would be relieved of their duties.