President Tinubu’s ministers will, today, begin to give an account of their performance in office since their appointment in August 2023.
Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday during the ministerial sectoral update.
According to Idris, the objective is to bring Nigerians up to speed with the achievements of the Tinubu-led government in its first year.
“The deeper sectoral briefing will begin tomorrow. We will have all the ministers come in here to discuss what they are doing in their various ministries to assist the policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Idris said.
The serial ministerial briefings are expected to form part assessment of the cabinet members who had, following a three-day Cabinet Retreat last November, signed a performance bond to unfailingly demonstrate diligence, innovative thinking, commitment, and an unrelenting focus on results.
Tinubu had told the ministers to work hard on the huge expectations of Nigerians and equally asked his Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to immediately reactivate the tracking system to enable Nigeria to monitor their performance.
While speaking further at the press meeting, the information minister also announced that Tinubu’s first anniversary which comes up next week will be celebrated low-key with emphasis to be placed only on the sectoral briefing.
“There will be no ceremonies heralding the one year in office but sectoral briefings by various ministers and this is consistent with the policy of President Tinubu to improve efficiency and ensure that government expenditure is kept for the good of the people,” he said.
“President Tinubu has always insisted that information should flow from the government to the people because it is the people that elected this government. So all the time, he has directed that we must continue to ensure that information that is useful to the people is provided to the people honestly, timely and responsibly.”
George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said that President Tinubu’s policies to revamp the economy have recorded great success within his one year in office.
Akume highlighted that a key achievement has been the implementation of policies that have successfully attracted foreign investments, curbed inflation, and generated employment opportunities across multiple sectors.
Those policies, according to him, include “the decentralisation of the power sector has dismantled monopolistic control, empowering state governments, corporations, and individuals to generate, distribute, and transmit electricity,” Akume said.
“The Presidential assent to the 2023 Electricity Bill, a move that dismantled monopolistic control over electricity generation, transmission and distribution at the national level and granted authority to State Governments, Corporations and individuals to generate, distribute and transmit electricity, thus decentralising the power sector.
“Assent to the passage into law of the Nigeria Data Protection Bill 2023 that established a legal framework for safeguarding personal information and promoting data protection practices in Nigeria,” he added.
Akume said “The challenging but very necessary removal of fuel subsidy, a longstanding policy notorious for fostering corruption, inefficiency and imposing significant fiscal strain on the government annually, and primarily benefiting the affluent and smugglers, rather than effectively aiding the general populace.”
He also highlighted the President’s commitment to enhancing the nation’s infrastructure as evident in the completion and ongoing execution of several projects, notable among which are the extensive road networks, improved rail systems, and the modernisation of the ports, which are vital for boosting trade and connectivity.
Bagudu says poor investment inflows undermining reform gains
Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning who also co-briefed the press noted that lack of investments in the various sectors of the economy has continued to undermine the nation’s economic prospects.
According to him, the President Tinubu-led administration, upon assumption of office, embarked on some macroeconomic reforms necessary to boost the nation’s position as a viable destination for investors, which are yet to yield the much-desired results due to a lack of investments.
“That is why we are not even producing crude oil in the quantity we used to before or as allowed by international convention, which is our OPEC quota because of underinvestment, whether in the physical infrastructure itself, or security, and so on and so forth,” Bagudu said.
“Our infrastructure is not catching up with our dreams, our educational system, our health system is suffering from underinvestment. In addition to our other sectors, the creative economy, digital economy, the steel sector, creative economy.
“So the answer to all this is to restore macroeconomic stability that will ensure that investors, both domestic and international, put their face in our economy once again,” he said.
