President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, restated his promise to turn around the fortunes of the country for the benefit of all Nigerians, stressing that he is President for all Nigerians, irrespective of political, ethnic, and other affiliations.
This was as he charged the ministers in his cabinet to do all within their powers to deliver on their mandates, saying that was the only way they could retain their seats.
Tinubu said these when he declared open the 2023 Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries, and top government functionaries, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
“I’m here to assure you and walk with you, the best brains we can put together in civil service, the brains that we can put together in our democratic parliament and have been chosen for us by the public.
“It is a good thing that the chairman of our party (the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje) is here, but the President is the President of all, whether affiliated with some political parties, regardless of religious, ethnic or otherwise.
“A great Nigeria is possible and a greater Nigeria will come under your commitment, guidance and resolute determination to give the country a direction.
“I’m with you. And please be assured that this great country is one family in one house, geographically partitioned and living in different rooms. But we are all one family.
“And we are here to make allegiance and give direction to that one family, making sure that relationship can only be stronger if we give hope to our people. We can only achieve our mission with baldness and strong determination with collaboration,” Tinubu told his ministers.
He stressed that their performances would be subjected to periodical review and results would be the only basis on which they would be able to retain their seats.
“If you are performing, nothing to fear. If you miss the objective, we’ll review it. If no performance, you leave us. No one is an island and the buck stops on my desk,” said the President.
Wednesday’s retreat comes 10 weeks after the President swore in the first set of (45) ministers into the Federal Executive Council on August 21, 2023.
Setting the expectations for the three-day cabinet retreat, Tinubu said his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, who spearheads the Result Delivery Unit, would closely monitor the performance in the ministries, departments and agencies across the eight priority areas of his administration.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who spoke earlier, enumerated them to include: Food Security—To promote economic growth and development through job creation, food security and putting an end to poverty; Ending Poverty—To promote economic growth and development through job creation, food security and putting an end to poverty; Economic Growth and Job Creation—To promote economic growth and development through job creation, and putting an end to poverty and Access to Capital—To promote economic growth and development through job creation, food security and putting an end to poverty.
Others are inclusivity, drawing on all skills bass—To prominently feature women and youth in national activities; Security—To defend the nation from terror and all forms of criminality; Fairness and the rule of law—To be impartial and govern according to the constitution and ensure the rule of law and Anti-Corruption Stance—To discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of various anti-corruption agencies.
