President Bola Tinubu has authorized the appointment of 140 government officials tasked with evaluating the performance of ministers and heads of agencies, a senior official from the Central Delivery Coordination Unit revealed.
Under the guidance of Hadiza Bala-Usman, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, the appointed officers will conduct comprehensive assessments of federal ministries, departments, and agencies.
The inaugural assessment exercise is scheduled to take place at the end of the current month.
The appointed civil servants, drawn from 35 federal government entities, participated in the third technical retreat for delivery desk officers of federal ministries on the implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, which began on Wednesday.
“It will involve a permanent secretary and directors of planning and other officials, four each from 35 ministries. They are considering the modalities of the assessment, the key performance indicators and the reporting mechanisms and all of those,” he said.
According to the official, each ministry will be represented by a permanent secretary and four directors responsible for planning and other administrative functions. They will collaboratively devise assessment modalities, key performance indicators, and reporting mechanisms.
The initiative underscores President Tinubu’s commitment to accountability and efficiency in governance, as reiterated by Hadiza Bala-Usman, who emphasized the possibility of ministerial dismissals for underperformance.
She noted that Tinubu was poised to deliver on his promise of making life better and easier for Nigerians and called for the total commitment of delivery officers and directors of planning in ministries.
Bala-Usman said, “We must understand that the President is very serious about his promises and that ministers will be assessed, and ministers will be dropped if they don’t perform.
“You must understand that as ministerial delivery desk officers, you are the engine room that will provide that feedback, constantly track ministerial progress, and report challenges and bottlenecks to the central coordinating and delivery unit.”
She added, “In the Ministry of Aviation, we will be assessing FAAN on customer experience at the airports; are the escalators, lifts, and conveyor belts functional?
“What are the consequences of delayed time of departure for airlines? These are things that everybody can feel and see.
“When talking about agriculture, we want to see our index of fertiliser use per hectare grow because of the attendant investment that has been made in fertiliser interventions.”
Ada Peter
