The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has announced that his office, in collaboration with the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, is executing the presidential directive on the restructuring and dissolution of various ministries.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night from Abuja, Akume revealed that directives have already been dispatched to facilitate the swift execution of the President’s orders. He emphasized that the handover and takeover processes across the affected ministries must be completed no later than Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
For ministries where successors have not yet been appointed, outgoing ministers are instructed to hand over their responsibilities to the Permanent Secretaries in charge.
Akume specifically mentioned that the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, as well as the dissolution of the Ministry of Sports Development, is being coordinated jointly by the SGF’s office and the Head of Civil Service.
He also pointed out that the renaming and reorganization of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development into the Ministry of Regional Development is now in full effect. All relevant commissions and supervising authorities under the new ministry have been duly notified of their revised mandates.
To ensure a seamless transition, Permanent Secretaries have been directed to oversee the entire process and submit an official copy of the handover notes to the SGF’s office for documentation.
This comes in the wake of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent reshuffling of his cabinet, which saw the dismissal of five ministers, the appointment of seven new ministers, and the reassignment of 10 others to new portfolios. These changes are part of the administration’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline government ministries for greater efficiency, including the dissolution of the Ministry of Sports Development.