Tinubu using vacation to shape new cabinet – Sources

NEW TELEGRAPH

President Bola Tinubu is using the opportunity of his annual vacation to compile a list of his cabinet members that will exit the team as well as the new people that will come on board, the Saturday Telegraph has learnt. Competent sources within the political hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) informed our correspondents that the president is not just in the United Kingdom for leave but also there to run away from prying eyes of politicians who have interests to protect.

“Mr. President is spending his leave to put together a list of the ministers that will work with him but he is also taking his time to weed out those who are not performing among his cabinet as presently constituted”, one of the sources noted. Many APC stakeholders have also been mounting pressure on the president to show some ministers the exit door since he received their performance scorecard from his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman.

Saturday Telegraph had earlier reported that there are overwhelming pressures from all nooks and crannies on the number-one citizen to rejig his team and bring on board a virile team that would tackle the various challenges confronting the nation. The concerns had been coming within and outside Nigeria because of the economic woes and security challenges bedevilling the country, which have led to several calls on the President to assemble a team of experts to tackle the twin challenges.

Shettima was said to have told the President to sack non performing ministers and board chairmen because they are giving the regime a bad image. The speculations are rife and making the rounds that the delay in reshuffling the cabinet by President Tinubu has been some causing rift in the Presidency. But when contacted on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the purported disagreement as mere ‘beer parlour’ story, saying such never exists. This is coming just as Onanuga maintained that the president will perform the reshuffle at the time he deems fit and proper. “I can’t comment on that because it is a mere beer parlour tale. Nothing like that exists,” Onanuga told one of our correspondents in a telephone interview.

The Presidential spokesman however refused to be categorical on when the president would announce his cabinet reshuffle saying, “The president will make a public announcement regarding the (the reshuffle) exercise at the appropriate time that he deems proper and right.” Other sources who volunteered opinions on the matter described the insinuations as “figments of the imagination of those sponsoring the rumour.”

One of the sources asked one of our correspondents: “But where are you people getting this from? You’re here; have you seen any indication of any disagreement between the President and his Vice? “The Vice President has been an epitome of loyalty to the President. He has been at the forefront in pushing the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President. So, I wonder how the issue of cabinet reshuffle, which is the sole responsibility of the President, will now be a problem. Discard it. It’s the figment of the imagination of those sponsoring the rumour.”

Another source, equally anonymous, said: “Politicians will always be looking for ways of creating problems even where there is none. Many political figures may not be comfortable with the relationship between the President and his Vice ahead of 2027 elections. They will be looking for ways to put a wedge. I think that’s what is happening. “Everyone can see that the Vice President has been upbeat in discharging his responsibilities.

He has been loyal and has been representing his boss at different fora. So, I don’t think that the delay in cabinet reshuffle is anything to even talk about here. “It’s the prerogative of the President to hire and fire anyone in his cabinet at any time he so wishes. Don’t be deceived by the rumour: it’s coming from the enemies of progress. That’s their stock in trade. They always sow seeds of discord to cause distraction.”

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN NEW TELEGRAPH