Ministers To Face Quarterly Test, As Criticisms Trail Their Competence

By Ayodele Oni

Apparently mindful of criticisms which trail the competence of some of its appointees, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has announced that it will commence  quarterly assessments of the performance of the 48 Ministers in January.

This will commence when Ministries will have received the budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

Nigerians have been lamenting that some of the appointees were guests of anti graft agencies before their appointment, while some have little or no knowledge of their places of their assignment.

The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Usman, explained that the annual scorecard would be reviewed during periodic retreats, where performances would be assessed against key performance indicators.

Speaking in an interview on TVC television, Usman stated, “We’re looking to commence an assessment of the respective ministries in January 2024. We’re going to have a quarterly assessment of performance which would culminate into an annual scorecard.”

The presidential aide said the Federal Executive Council members would participate in a retreat in early November where the key performance index would be defined and the ministers would sign a performance bond.

“We’re going to have a cabinet retreat in the first week of November where the final details will be hashed with the full cabinet in place with Mr President.

“At the end of it, we’re going to culminate with the performance bond. They’ll be signed by each ministry, every minister, and the Permanent Secretary will sign a performance board with Mr. President.

“The bond will detail the deliverables each ministry plans to achieve within the one-year 2024 budget cycle. That performance bond is what we’re going to use to track the performance of that minister.”

She noted that the Federal Government would prioritize citizens’ engagement to ensure that Nigerians were part of the assessment.