Adebayo Shittu: Tinubu’s cabinet size not so large given Nigeria’s huge population

Adebayo Shittu, former minister of communications, says President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet is not that “unwieldy” for a nation with Nigeria’s population.

Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Shittu said ministers have been tasked with serving over 200 million people.

Shittu, who served in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, said governance is evolving and entails the creation of new ministries, adding that there is a need for people to be appointed to oversee the new ministries.

“There is no point saving a kobo, and in the process, you lose so much naira,” he said.

“Nigeria is made up of 200 million people. Ministers appointed are supposed to come and serve these 200 million people, and you would agree with me that the content of governance is ever expanding.

“Government is thinking ahead to bring in new ministries, new subject matters, and so on.

“As far as I’m concerned, having 50 ministers is not too many for this country.

“For instance, if you take the ministry of agric, it is one of the largest ministries we have. The agencies under the federal ministry of agriculture and ministry of education are certainly more than 50 in each case.

“So, if you have 50 agencies under a ministry, you expect one person to be able to adequately take care of the core content of the ministry itself and also be able to take care in a supervisory role, of the more than 50 agencies under them? That will certainly be too unwieldy.

“That is why, in some countries, you have a separate ministry of primary education, you also have a ministry of higher education, and so on.

“There is a need for us to be realistic and look for people who can adequately take on these ministries, both the real content of the ministry and the agencies under them.

“To the best of my knowledge, having 50 ministers is not too many for a huge county like Nigeria… for the enormous responsibilities that many of these ministries have to undertake.”

TINUBU’S CABINET SIZE

In August 2023, the president swore in 45 ministers — the highest appointed since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.

In October 2023, the president swore in three additional ministers, increasing the cabinet to 48.

In December 2023, Simon Lalong resigned as minister of labour to pick up a seat in the senate, following a court of appeal judgment.

A month later, Tinubu suspended Betta Edu as minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, over alleged corruption.

For months in 2024, Tinubu’s cabinet had 46 ministers, following the resignation of Lalong and Edu’s suspension.

On Wednesday, Tinubu implemented  a reshuffling of his cabinet, which led to the “discharge” of five ministers, appointment of seven new ones, with 10 ministers assigned fresh portfolios.