Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has explained why his principal, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). replaced the Ministers of Agriculture, Mohammed Nanono; and Power, Sale Mamman, with other ministers from his cabinet after he “relieved” the two of their responsibilities.
Adesina spoke on Thursday when he featured on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme monitored by The PUNCH.
Buhari had on Wednesday sacked Nanono (Kano State) and Mamman (Taraba State). He had also redeployed the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abubakar, to the Ministry of Agriculture while the Minister of State for Works, Abubakar Aliyu, took over as Minister of Power.
The two dismissed ministers were in August 2019 sworn in as part of the over 40 ministers who make up the current Federal Executive Council.
Speaking on the television programme, Adesina said the redeployed ministers are not weak in their former offices but versatile hence the need for their redeployment.
“It could be that the President has seen that they were versatile and so they would do well in other areas within the cabinet. It does not mean that they were weak and that is why changes came from within. Don’t also forget that the President said new nominations will also be made according to constitutional provisions because the constitution prescribes that every state in the country must provide a minister.
“So, if the reshuffle has caused that a state or two doesn’t have a minister, then, there have to be fresh nominations into the cabinet,” he said.
The presidential spokesman also said that ministerial appointments are not chieftaincy titles and appointees should be ready to leave at any time the President feels they have delivered their best.
Throwing more light on the President’s statement that the cabinet reshuffle is a continuous process and more ministers would leave the government before 2023, Adesina said, “It could also mean that the President who appoints them can also say, ‘Thank You for your services; let me bring in fresh energy’.
“The President is the one who will determine that and what that is telling us is that national service is for God and for humanity; it is not for ourselves. When it is time for you to go, you go. It is not a chieftaincy title, it is not something that you hold for life and when it is time to go, you leave gladly.”
