After Sacking Ministers, Tinubu Announces Measures To Cut Cost Of Governance

In a bid to reduce government expenditure, President Bola Tinubu has reduced the number of convoys and security details of government officials.

This is coming a day after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a cabinet reshuffle that saw the sacking, reassignment, and appointment of ministers to Tinubu’s cabinet.

According to President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, ministers and heads of government agencies will now be limited to three vehicles in their convoys.

The directive also restricts their security personnel to a maximum of five, comprising four police and one Department of State Services (DSS) officers.

“No additional vehicles will be assigned to them for movement.

“In January this year, President Tinubu took significant steps to reduce government expenditure by reducing his entourage on foreign trips from 50 to 20 officials. For local trips, he reduced it to 25 officials.

“He similarly reduced the Vice President’s entourage to five officials on foreign trips and 15 for local trips,” Said Onanuga who added that President Tinubu also instructed the National Security Adviser to engage with the military, paramilitary and security agencies to determine a suitable reduction in their vehicle and security personnel deployment.

On Wednesday, President Tinubu sacked Barr. Uju-Ken Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs; Lola Ade-John, Minister of Tourism; Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education; Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development; and Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Youth Development.

Among the seven new appointees are Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi for Labour and Employment, and Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

The president also reassigned ten existing ministers to new portfolios.

In January, Tinubu reduced his foreign trip entourage from 50 to 20 officials and local trip contingent to 25 officials.

The vice president’s entourage was similarly cut to five officials for foreign trips and 15 for local trips.

The reorganisation announced Wednesday includes the renaming of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development to the Ministry of Regional Development. The ministry will oversee all regional development commissions.

FEC also approved scrapping of the Ministry of Sports Development and transfer of its functions to the National Sports Commission. The Ministry of Tourism was merged with the Ministry of Arts and Culture.