Cabinet Reshuffle: NECA, CPPE, Experts Advice Tinubu to Dump Federal Character, Party Politics for Technocrats

Dike Onwuamaeze

Some members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and economic experts have advised President Bola Tinubu to prioritise economic considerations, welfare  and security of Nigerians over political sentiments, federal character and quest to win the next election in deciding who should be sacked or retained in his cabinet.

They gave this advice following the announcement by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, that Tinubu would reshuffle his cabinet.

According to them, certain ministries like Agriculture; Industry, Trade and Investment; Budget and National Planning; Power need to be manned by technocrats with requisite technical competence and experience.

The also pointed out that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation need to be rejigged to improve their performance.

The Director General of Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, told THISDAY that attainment of economic objectives and plan should be the overriding factors in the president’s choice of members of cabinet because “the time for political patronage and federal character expediency is past.”

“It will be imperative to recruit individuals that have demonstrated competence and verifiable results in their endeavours, irrespective of where they come from and where they currently reside.

“The government cannot afford to play trial and error with the citizens’ life for the next two years. Therefore, no effort should be spared to get the right calibre of Nigerians.

“It is important to re-emphasise that the nation needs its best hands to help it navigate the current challenging economic terrain,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, a former Professor of Economics and Public Policy at University of Uyo, Akpan Ekpo, reminded the president that there is too much suffering in the land and urged him not to look for people that would help him to win the next election.

He said: “The president should bring in technocrats who will help him to grow the economy so that people’s hardship may be ameliorated.

“By my own evaluation, the ministry dealing with poverty alleviation has not done any work. It is redundant. I did not see the need for a livestock ministry. It should be part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

“I think that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has not done anything apart from having workshops and seminars when there are lot of marine resources to be exploited.”

The professor said that the time has come for the Ministry of Education to be broken into three ministries for more effectiveness and responsiveness while some irrelevant ministries should be closed down

“I do not know what the Minister of Coordinating Economy is coordinating because we have the Ministry of Budget and National Planning. So, what is he coordinating?” he asked.

Ekpo added that Tinubu needed a properly constituted economic management team. “What he has now does not qualify to be an economic team because people who should be policy recipients are now policy makers,” he stressed.

He advised that the president should have a forum where he meets with businesspeople and another forum where he talks with technocrats.

“That is how it is works. The role of the government is to surprise the private sector and the role of the private sector is to predict the government. So he should not bring in business people with vested interests into his economic management team,” he said.

A Financial Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of BIC Consultancy Services, Dr. Boniface Chizea, told THISDAY that the proposed  cabinet reshuffle  did not need to be announced in advance. 

Chizea said that the exercise should be delivered as a surprise package so that those the president would want to do away with should not have the chance to pull powerful strings.

“So this puts a question mark on its seriousness and whether it is a trick for them panic and sit up. We should have gone beyond this going by the magnitude of crises we have in the country of over 200 million people with 60 million in multidimensional poverty.

“A president should know those to go and those to come in. In a cabinet there are technical areas that people with expertise should be lead such as the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.  This is not an all comers affair. Also the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as Agriculture and Power require people with some level of expertise and experience. 

“What is the man in the solid minerals doing? What experience has he got about the ministry? Even the Ministry of Information should be manned by a thorough bred professional that can pass the decisions of the government to the citizens.

‘‘The president should always have before him the bigger picture, which is Nigeria and Nigeria’s citizens and their welfare and security,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the move to reshuffle the cabinet was a good idea that would reinvigorate the cabinet and build a new momentum for the Tinubu’s administration to deliver.

Yusuf said that sound gaps analysis should be carried out to determine the kind of people and experience that would be required in the cabinet.

“But I believe that Nigerians will like to see more technocrats and people with right industry experience.

“This is important because fixing an economy is about people with technical understanding of each of the sectors and also empirical understanding and insight regarding what is going on in the sectors.

“It will also make it possible for the minister to connect very well with the stakeholders in each of the sectors of the economy. So, there has to be a balance between the academics or those with technical understanding and industry knowledge.

“This blend is extremely very important so that policies and regulations will be fit for purpose and deliver the right kind of outcomes both for the government and people of Nigeria,” Yusuf said.