News
Ministers Demoted to Ministers of State
Photo caption: Sen. John Enoh, demoted from Sports Minister to Minister.
Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, demoted from Minister of Trade and Industry to Minister of State, Finance
President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, demoted two members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC moving them from Minister to the position of Minister of State, also known as Junior Minister.
The two affected cabinet members are Senator John Enoh and Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite.
While John Enoh, a former Minister of Sports Development who obviously performed dismally, was demoted to serve as Minister of State, Trade and Investment (Industry), Doris Uzoka-Anite was fired from her position as Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment to be Minister of State, Finance.
In a major shakeup, the President also sacked five ministers, appointed seven new ones and restructured ministerial portfolios to reinvigorate his administration’s capacity to deliver on his promises to Nigerians.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, made the announcement while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The ministers sacked include Uju-Ken Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs; Lola Ade-John, Minister of Tourism and Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education.
Others are Abdullahi Gwarzo, Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development; and Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Youth Development.
Tinubu also appointed seven new ministers and assigned portfolios to them, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Dr Nentawe Yilwatda was appointed Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction; Muhammadu Dingyadi, Minister of Labour and Employment; Mrs Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu, Minister of State Foreign Affairs; and Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Others are Idi Maiha, Minister of Livestock Development Federal Ministry; Rt. Hon. Yusuf Ata, Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development; and Dr Suwaiba Ahmad, Minister of State Education.
The President also appointed Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports Commission and Mr Sunday Dare as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation, working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Tinubu also restructured the Ministry of Nigeria Delta Development, which is now Ministry of Regional Development to oversee the activities of all the Regional Development Commissions.
The Regional Development Commissions to be under the supervision of the new Ministry are: the Niger Delta Development Commission, the South East Development Commission, the North East Development and the North West Development Commission.
The President also approved the immediate winding up of the Ministry of Sports Development and the transfer of its functions to the National Sports Commission in order to develop a vibrant sports economy.
Similarly, the President approved the merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
Tinubu re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios.
Dr. Yusuf Sununu, formerly Minister of State, Education is now Minister of State Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, while Dr. Morufu Alausa, Minister State, Health, is now Minister of Education.
Bello Goronyo, Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation, is now Minister of State Works and Hon. Abubakar Momoh, Minister of Niger Delta Development, is now Minister of Regional Development.
Uba Ahmadu, Minister of State, Steel Development, is now Minister of State Regional Development, while Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, is now Minister of State Finance.
Sen. John Enoh, Minister of Sports Development, is now Minister of State, Trade and Investment (Industry), while Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of State, Police Affairs, is now Minister of Women Affairs.
Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State for Youth Development, is now Minister for Youth Development, and Dr Salako Adeboye, Minister of State, Environment, is now Minister of State, Health.
The President thanked the outgoing members of the FEC for their service to the nation and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
He charged the newly appointed ministers as well as their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation.
He added that all appointees must understand the administration’s eagerness and determination to set Nigeria on the path to irreversible growth.
He urged them to invest the best of their abilities into the actualisation of the government’s priorities.
The legal team of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, say they are ready with factil evidence to defend her in court.
The team received a formal summons in the case filed against her by the Federal Government at the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Federal Government filed the suit, marked CR/297/25, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The government accused the senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
Among the witnesses listed to testify during the trial were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Others include Asuquo Ekpenyong, a senator; Sandra Duru; Maya Iliya, investigating police officers; and Abdulhafiz Garba, investigating police officers.
However, in a statement issued Friday night by Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa (SAN) on behalf of the legal team, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers confirmed receipt of the formal summons and pledged to prepare all “factual and statutory defences” available to the lawmaker during trial.
“At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 23, 2025, within the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, we received the information filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, containing three counts alleging that our client, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, made imputations she had reason to believe would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate,” the statement read.
“We received the said information on her behalf through a letter of authority duly issued and filed in the court’s registry.
“The legal team will fully prepare and present all factual and statutory defences available to our client during the trial.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will on Tuesday next week begin the take over of 4,794 properties in Abuja, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters, due to unpaid ground rent.
The PDP headquarters, currently under construction in Abuja’s Central Business District, is among the affected properties, having been revoked in March for several years of unpaid ground rent. The FCTA disclosed that 4,794 titles had been revoked for failure to pay ground rent, with some defaults dating back 43 years.
The affected properties are located in various districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
The defaulters owe over N6.96 billion in ground rent. The FCTA had given a 21-day grace period for owners with debts under 10 years, which has now expired.
The FCTA officials announced that the takeover would begin on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the sealing off and restriction of access to the affected properties.
The Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze emphasized that the revocations were carried out under Section 28(5)(a)(b) of the Land Use Act, which empowers the government to reclaim land when the terms of occupancy are violated.
Two people sustained serious injuries when a training aircraft crash-landed at the Ilorin International Airport on Friday.
Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at 17:28 local time on May 23, 2025, during a simulated instrument approach on Runway 05 at Ilorin International Airport.
Oladeji said the aircraft veered off the runway and came to a stop on the grass verge, leaving the two occupants on board injured.
She stated: “Both sustained serious injuries and were swiftly evacuated to a medical facility, coordinated by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“In response, the NSIB Go-Team is currently preparing to depart from Abuja to Ilorin to conduct on-site investigations. The team will secure the site, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retrieve operational data to establish the cause and contributing factors of the incident.”
Quoting the Director General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., she said “Our thoughts are with the injured, and we commend the swift medical and emergency response. Now, our focus is on understanding exactly what went wrong. Every investigation is an opportunity to improve safety. We are deploying our team to Ilorin to ensure that no detail is overlooked.”
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