President Bola Tinubu has abolished the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Ministry of Sports Development in a major cabinet reshuffle. The decision was made during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, according to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President.
Onanuga announced that a new Ministry of Regional Development will be created to oversee all regional development commissions, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, and North East Development Commission. He explained that the move is aimed at streamlining government operations to improve efficiency.
In addition, the National Sports Commission will now take over the responsibilities of the Ministry of Sports. “The National Sports Commission will handle all sports-related matters going forward,” Onanuga stated, noting that the commission is better positioned to manage sports development at the national level.
The reshuffle also saw the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy. However, it is still unclear whether Hannatu Musawa, the current Minister of Culture, or Lola Ade-John, the Minister of Tourism, will head the merged ministry.
“The President has taken these steps to reduce redundancy and enhance the performance of the government’s development agenda,” Onuaga added during the briefing. He noted that further details regarding the leadership of the merged ministries will be provided soon.
The future roles of Abubakar Momoh, the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and John Enoh, the former Sports Minister, remain uncertain as their ministries have been dissolved.
