Presidential Spokesman Bayo Onanuga disclosed on Sunday that ministers affected by the recent cabinet reshuffle were politely addressed by President Bola Tinubu at a private meeting before their dismissal.
Onanuga made this known on Channels Television’s “Sunday Politics”.
Tinubu on Wednesday sacked five ministers and changed the appointments of 10 other ministers.
The appointments were announced in a statement from the Executive Board after the Federal Executive Board meeting on Wednesday.
The sacked ministers were Women Affairs Minister Uju-Ken Ohanenye; Minister of Tourism Lola Ade-John; Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman (SAN); Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo; and Mchange of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim.
But Onanuga insisted that her dismissal was a result of the scorecard based on a key performance indicator presented by the Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza (Usman).
The spokesperson also noted that they were politely informed of his decision before publishing the news.
He said: “The President did not change his ministers just on a whim. The change went through a process. Since October last year, when we held a closed session, the President told ministers that they would be assessed. Hadiza (Usman), the Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, was in charge.
“She didn’t do it on a whim either. She justified the use of technology and urged the citizens of Nigeria to actually score points on the ministers. To assess this process, I believe some data was obtained from what people said and the assessment made by Nigerians themselves. The President acted on this basis.
“Some people said they were fired. But the president used a milder word: fired. When he asked them to leave on Wednesday, he was very polite and informed them of his decision. He thanked them for their service to the country and wished them well. This was different than what we were used to, where people would just be dismissed on the radio or TV.”
