The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head, Central Delivery and Coordination Unit, Hadiza Bala Usman, says her principal will sack ministers who do not deliver on their mandates.
This was made known by Usman while speaking at the opening of the technical retreat for delivery desk officers of federal ministries on implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Usman said the president was serious about delivering on his promise to make life better and easier for Nigerians.
While asking for the total commitment of delivery officers and directors of planning in ministries who were present at the retreat, she admonished them to get serious with their jobs, describing them as the engine rooms.
Tinubu serious about dropping non-performing ministers
- Usman said, “We must understand that the president is very serious about his promises and that ministers will be assessed, and ministers will be dropped if they don’t perform.
- “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 bottlenecks to the central coordinating and delivery unit (CDCU).
- “As I was saying at the ministry of aviation recently, we will be assessing FAAN on customer experience at the airports; are the escalators, lifts, and conveyor belts functional? How swift is security clearance both for passengers and vehicles in accessing the airport?
- “What are the consequences of delayed time of departure for airlines? These are things that everybody can feel and see. When we are talking about agriculture, we want to see our index of fertilizer use per hectare grow in view of the attendant investment that has been made in fertilizer interventions.”
Assessment to focus on tangible outcomes that affect Nigerians
The presidential aide explained that the retreat 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.
- She added, “The assessment will look at granular tangible outcomes that affects the lives of citizens. As I was saying at the Ministry of Aviation recently, we will be assessing FAAN on customers experience at the airports; are the escalators, lifts, and conveyor belts functional?
- “How swift is security clearance both for passengers and vehicles in accessing the airport? What are the consequences of delayed time of departure for airlines?
- “These are things that everybody can feel and see. When we are talking about agriculture, we want to see our index of fertiliser use per hectare grow in view of the attendant investment that has been made in fertiliser interventions.
- “At the Ministry of Finance, we will assess the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) on the timeliness for inspection and clearance of import and export of cargo. At the Ministry of Finance again, we will also assess them on the timeliness of resources availability to MDAs which is core to the delivery of any mandate.’’
What you should know
- Recall that in November 2023, Tinubu had at a 3-day cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government officials warned that ministers that do not deliver on their on their assignments and set targets would be dropped from the federal cabinet.
- Usman had disclosed that each minister would sign a performance bond with Tinubu, noting that the bond will contain key performance indicators that would be reviewed quarterly.
