Three months after their exit, profiles and pictures of ministers who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari are still reflected on the websites of some federal government ministries, Daily Trust findings have shown.
Recall that President Buhari dissolved the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on May 29, 2023, shortly before handing over power to the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
There were rumours that the president had dissolved FEC on May 24th during the last Federal Executive Council meeting but the then Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed refuted the information, stating that the president had directed the ministers to work until May 29, when the administration’s tenure will end.
Consequently, three months after the ministers’ exit, ministries like the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment still maintain the pictures and profiles of the former ministers.
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Other ministries with pictures and profiles of the former ministers are Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Water Resources, Women Affairs and Environment as well as the Ministry of Justice.
This is happening over 90 days after their exit and days after the inauguration of new ministers by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which took place on August 21.
Federal Capital Territory Administration
A visit to the website of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) shows that the picture of the former minister, Mohammed Musa Bello, is conspicuously placed with his mission statement on how he wants to transform FCTA.
“I will strive to surmount some of the most visible challenges facing the FCT, particularly overstretched infrastructure due to rapid population growth, poor maintenance culture, poorly maintained roads, blocked water and sewer lines, poor waste management practices, influx of beggars and street hawkers and poorly maintained street and traffic lights system. Greater attention would be given to the problem of commuter transportation, water supply to the city and satellite towns, uncompleted projects (including critical major infrastructure as well as Satellite Towns development projects) and ensure upgrade of all educational and health facilities. Our goal in the end is to make the quality of life more meaningful for the residents of the city in line with the social change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.,” a statement by the former minister as seen on the website of the FCTA.
Also, the pictures or any activity relating to the new minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike was not seen on the website despite assuming office since last week.
Ministry of Education
In the same vein, the ministry of education’s website has the picture of the former Minister, Mal. Adamu Adamu in addition to other old stories.
The last story uploaded on the website of the ministry as seen by Daily Trust was on the transfer of returnee students to Nigeria, which was tagged “Advisory on procedure for emergency transfer of returnee Nigerian students into Nigerian university system in time of crisis”
Daily Trust had reported that the new Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, upon resumption at the ministry pledged to work like a bricklayer.
Explaining how a bricklayer works, he said: “He goes to the sites every day and he is faced with hundreds of blocks to lay and by the end of day he wants to see that the building has come up to a certain level everyday so by three to six months the house is done.”
Yusuf Sununu is the Minister of State for Education.
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs
The case of the ministry of humanitarian affairs was no different as the profile of the new Minister, Beta Edu, has not been updated. The pictures of the management of the ministry show that the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo is seen as the highest management staff alongside other directors in the ministry.
Pictures and reports on the former Minister, Sadiya Umar Sadiq also flooded the website of the ministry.
Daily Trust did not find any substantial information on the new minister who was the former woman leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former commissioner for health in Cross Rivers state where she hails from.
Ministry of Water Resources
Despite the appointment of Mr. Joseph Utsev as Minister of Water Resources, the ministry is yet to upload his picture and his profile.
Rather, the website of the ministry is flooded with pictures of the former Minister, Engr. Suleiman and that of the Permanent Secretary, Didi Esther Walson-Jack.
Subsequently, the minister along with the Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Bello Goronyo, upon resumption emphasised that water remains a catalyst for any kind of development, and said it will be given the topmost priority and also the sanitation and hygiene practices will be unscaled for a healthy and productive country.
Ministry of Environment
On the website of the Federal Ministry of Environment, pictures of the former Minister, Mohammed Abdullahi and the minister of state were seen, strategically placed on the website.
President Tinubu had appointed Ishaq Salako as Minister of State for Environment and reserved the position of the senior minister for Kaduna State following the non-clearance and subsequent withdrawal of the former governor, Nasir El-Rufai. The Ministry of Environment handles critical issues of ecological and climate change activities in Nigeria.
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment
The website of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment also did not contain any information on the new Minister, Doris Anite who now oversees the ministry after the exit of Otunba Niyi Adebayo.
A visit to the website only takes one to the data form page of the ministry with very scanty.
Ministry of Women Affairs
The Ministry of Women Affairs had no information of the new Minister, Uju Kennedy who was recently appointed by the president to take over from Pauline Tallen.
Ministry of Justice
The same case is seen by Daily Trust on the website of the Ministry of Justice as the picture of the new Minister, Lateef Fagbemi was nowhere to be found. Fagbemi takes over from Abubakar Malami.
Foreign Affairs, Transport, Aviation others up to date with new ministers’ pictures, profiles
However, further checks by Daily Trust show that the ministries of foreign affairs, transportation, aviation, information, power, and works are up to date with their ministers’ profile and pictures.
Others are the ministries of mines and steel development, agriculture, defence, interior, finance, petroleum resources and health.
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An IT expert, Dahiru Balarabe told Daily Trust that the failure of some ministries to upload pictures and profiles of their ministers showed lack of seriousness.
He said the development had the potential to make prospective investors not take Nigeria seriously.
According to him, “A website is supposed to be up to date always as it carries recent and vital information on people or firms that call the shots. Therefore, for a whole ministry not to have the pictures and profiles of the current minister, it sends the wrong signal to your investors or people that want to collaborate with you at any level.
“In fact, when they visit your website and see old information about anything, they won’t take you seriously,” he said.
Balarabe said it is in the interest of defaulting ministries to as a matter of urgency update the profiles of their new ministers, especially at a time when Nigeria is yearning for foreign investments and partnerships.
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