Non-performing ministers will be sacked, Tinubu warns

President Bola Tinubu has warned that ministers who do not deliver on their assignments and set targets will be sent packing from the federal cabinet.

Tinubu spoke on Wednesday at the opening of a three-day cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries, and top government functionaries.

The retreat with the theme: ‘Delivering on the renewed hope agenda’ held at the State House conference centre, presidential villa, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

Earlier last month, Hadiza Bala Usman, special adviser to the president on policy coordination, disclosed that each minister would sign a performance bond with Tinubu.

Bala Usman said the bond would contain key performance indicators (KPIs) that would be reviewed quarterly, adding that the bond will also come with a consequence management framework for appointees who fall short.

The special adviser’s office was created to ensure that there is coordination across ministries, departments and agencies.

Bala Usman had added that the assessment would begin in January 2024, after which there would be quarterly assessments of performances which will culminate in an annual scorecard.

Speaking during the retreat, Tinubu said the performance bond will be signed on Friday.

“At the end of this retreat, you will sign a performance bond with me… I stand before you and I have claimed on several occasions and I am saying today again, as the president I can make a mistake, point it to me, I would resolve that conflict, that error. Perfection is of God almighty,” he said.

“But you are there to help me succeed and success I must achieve by all means necessary.”

Tinubu noted that it is important for ministries and other agencies to collaborate effectively in order to achieve results and reaffirmed his confidence in the democratic process.

The president added that while he would remove the obstacles stunting the country’s economic growth, the performance of his cabinet would be evaluated, and accountability upheld.

“We can’t complain and give excuses. It is our country,” he said.

“We have to give hope to the near hopeless, to the Nigerians in doubt whether our economic policies are the right way to success.”

Tinubu announced that Bala Usman would oversee the “results delivery unit”.

“And that is why we’ve established Result Delivery Unit. At the end of this retreat you’re going to sign a bond of understanding between you, the ministers, the permanent secretaries and myself,” the president said.

“If you are performing, nothing to fear; if you miss the objective, we’ll review; if no performance, you leave us. No one is an island and the buck stops on my desk.

“I assure you you have a free hand, you must be intellectually inquisitive to ask how, why, when and why it must be immediate. You have responsibility to serve the people.

“I’ve taken a young lady, very dynamic Hadiza Bala Usman to head that Delivery Unit. If you have any complaint about her, see me. If you’re ready to work with her, stay there! Delivery, yes, we must achieve it for the sake of millions of the people.”