Buhari plans cabinet reshuffle over the coming weeks in bid to breathe new life into his government

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari intends to reshuffle his cabinet over the coming weeks as part of a plan to reinvigorate the government and drop non-performing ministers who have failed to deliver to election pledges.

Two weeks ago, President Buhari returned to Nigeria after spending 105 days in the UK where he was recovering from an undisclosed illness that has afflicted him since he assumed office. Now halfway through his four-year tenure, President Buhari has been unable to deliver on a lot of his manifesto promises as he has not been around for a lot of the time and in his absence, many of his ministers have not delivered either.

According to top presidency sources, President Buhari has made up his mind to rejig his cabinet very soon but is torn between moving around the current crop of ministers or dropping them completely and replacing them with new appointees. Apparently when vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo visited the president last month in the United Kingdom, he had sought his permission to reshuffle the cabinet.

During the visit, Professor Osinbajo presented professor Buhari with a draft list for the reshuffled cabinet for his consideration and approval. President Buhari,  however, asked his deputy to tarry for a while until he returned to the country, informing Professor Osinbajo that since the administration was midway into its tenure, it would be the only opportunity for him to reshuffle the cabinet.

It was on the basis of President Buhari’s position that Professor Osinbajo, upon his return to the country, swore-in Professor Stephen Ocheni from Kogi State and Alhaji Suleiman Hassan from Gombe State, who had been confirmed by the senate as ministerial nominees, without assigning any portfolios to them. They were eventually assigned portfolios three days before President Buhari’s return from the UK.

According to a presidency source, ministers, who are aware of the likely changes to take place, have been lobbying President Buhari through their governors or close allies to either retain their ministries or be moved to other ones that they deem more important. President Buhari, it was gathered, has also been holding on to the list drafted by the vice president and has not made up his mind on whether to reshuffle the cabinet on the basis of the list, or make some alterations..

It is believed that President Buhari has been counselled by those close to him to jettison the list given to him by Professor Osinbajo completely and dissolve the cabinet so that he can bring in new hands that will be loyal to his agenda. According to the source, the situation has caused an air of uncertainty among his ministers who do not know if they are staying on or may be replaced.