Ola Akinwunmi
With President Bola Tinubu’s administration approaching its second anniversary on May 29, the Central Results Delivery and Coordination Unit (CDCU) is finalizing a critical performance review of Nigeria’s federal ministries, setting the stage for potential cabinet reshuffles and renewed accountability measures. The confidential assessment, which evaluates ministers’ achievements against pre-set deliverables for Q1 2025, has already placed underperforming ministries under intense scrutiny, presidency sources revealed.
The CDCU, led by Special Adviser Hadiza Bala-Usman, has spent weeks verifying project evidence and policy milestones submitted by ministries through a secure portal in April. The scorecards are benchmarked against performance bonds signed by ministers during Tinubu’s October 2023 cabinet retreat, where he warned, “If no performance, you leave us” . While immediate dismissals are unlikely, insiders describe the report as a “clear picture” of ministerial efficacy, with most scoring average or below. Only a handful, including the Minister of Works, have exceeded expectations .
Bala-Usman’s team, modeled after delivery units in the UK and Rwanda, has prioritized transparency, using 140 trained officials from 35 ministries to validate submissions. The CDCU’s mandate includes flagging “red-line projects” for presidential intervention, a system that previously led to the removal of two ministers in October 2024 .
Opposition parties and civil society groups have seized on the review to amplify criticism of Tinubu’s governance. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) labeled the administration a “monumental failure,” citing unchecked insecurity, economic hardship, and collapsing public services. “You can’t give what you don’t have,” PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba declared, accusing Tinubu of prioritizing “propaganda” over tangible results .
The Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) echoed calls for a cabinet overhaul. NNPP’s Ladipo Johnson urged Tinubu to “rejig his cabinet” with “dynamic hands,” while civil society leaders like Debo Adeniran highlighted systemic failures in education, healthcare, and security. “The purpose of government has been defeated,” Adeniran stated, criticizing blame-shifting among officials
Auwal Rafsanjani of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre noted a troubling trend: many ministers appear focused on securing Tinubu’s 2027 re-election rather than governance. “The majority are just sitting there… working for his second term, not necessarily as ministers,”* he said, demanding public release of the CDCU report to curb opacity .
While Tinubu is not expected to announce immediate dismissals before May 29, the report form one-on-one reviews with ministers and guide mid-term adjustments. Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga framed the exercise as routine accountability, aimed at keeping officials “on their toes” .
