President Bola Tinubu is prepared to remove any ministers who fail to fulfil their mandates, according to Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Delivery and Coordination Unit.
Usman said this at the opening of the technical retreat for delivery desk officers of federal ministries on the implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital
She stated that the president was serious about delivering on his promise to make life better and easier for Nigerians and his intolerance for underperformance.
“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,” Usman declared.
Usman also outlined specific metrics for measuring performance, citing examples like customer experience at airports and fertiliser use in agriculture.
These tangible indicators, she explained, will be used to gauge the effectiveness of ministries and hold them accountable.
“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 for both passengers and vehicles 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.”
The presidential aide, however, urged them to take their responsibilities seriously, saying, “you are the engine room that will provide that feedback, constantly track ministerial progress, and report challenges and bottlenecks to the central coordinating and delivery unit (CDCU).”
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who was represented by former Permanent Secretary of the General Services Office, Olusegun Adekunle, reminded participants about Tinubu’s plan to ensure the active and direct participation of citizens in governance and the role they need to play in ensuring that ministries and parastatals deliver on their mandates.
