Amid reports that President Bola Tinubu is planning a major cabinet reshuffle to remove underperforming ministers, opposition political parties have expressed skepticism, stating that they do not anticipate any positive outcomes from the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.
Naija News had earlier reported on President Tinubu’s plans to evaluate and potentially dismiss ministers who have not met performance expectations.
This move comes as the President faces mounting pressure from within his party and from the public to ensure a more effective administration.
However, opposition figures, particularly from the Labour Party, have expressed doubt that the reshuffle will lead to meaningful change.
Yunusa Tanko, the campaign spokesman for former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, told Punch that the party’s primary concern lies with achieving improved electoral reforms rather than any cabinet changes by the current administration.
He said, “We are not really interested in whether Tinubu changes or sacks his ministers. One of the major areas we thought there would be an improvement in is our demand for electoral reform. If we have an improved electoral reform, it will inevitably give us a good opportunity for credible elections to take place.
“Sacking or replacing your cabinet with new people is an extension of state capture. He will only be replacing them with his loyalists which we know will be a strategy ahead of 2027. But if he is really serious about improving the performance of his governance at the moment, he can start considering reshuffling his cabinet. Quite a number of the ministers are not measuring up to expectations.”
On his part, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ibrahim Abdullahi, attributed the ministers’ woeful performance to Tinubu’s lack of empathy for Nigerians.
Abdullahi said, “It is not about changing the cabinet. When you acquire power through fraudulent and desperate means, it would take a million efforts, programmes, and policies to correct it because something cannot stand without a foundation. So what is the foundation of his presidency? That is the crux of the matter. As PDP, we are not expecting anything good during this period of divine grace, that God will keep him in power.”
The National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Party, Peter Ameh, cautioned Tinubu against making the same mistake as his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, by keeping his ministers for eight years.
He said CUPP was not surprised by the failure of Tinubu’s ministers, adding that a responsible government would have dismissed them long ago.
