Profiles of new ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet

President Bola Tinubu rejigged his cabinet on Wednesday, scrapping the Ministry of Niger Delta Development and replacing it with the new Ministry of Regional Development.

The President also collapsed the Ministry of Sports Development into the National Sports Commission (NSC), with the latter now performing the role of the former.

Similarly, the Ministry of Tourism was merged with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.

In addition, the President appointed new members into the Federal Executive Council and reassigned some of the old hands to new ministries.

WESTERN POST presents their new portfolios and some information you need to know about the new appointees:

NEWLY-APPOINTED:

Sunday Akin Dare is a journalist. He was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2019 to 2023 and served as Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) between 2016 and 2019.
Dare holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International studies from Ahmadu Bello University and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the University of Jos. He was a Visiting Scholar at the School of Journalism at New York University and a Nieman Journalism Fellow at Harvard University.

Now the Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation, he’s bringing his wealth of experience to bear on the information dissemination and management in the Presidency.

Bianca Ojukwu is the widow of former Biafra leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. A former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Bianca was at different times Nigeria’s ambassador to Ghana and Spain.

THE REASSIGNED MINISTERS:

Dr Tanko Yusuf Sununu was appointed by President Bola Tinubu as the Minister of State for Education in 2023. Before then, he was elected to the House of Representatives to represent Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski constituency in the 10th National Assembly, where he served as Chairman, Healthcare Services Committee.

Dr Sununu is a distinguished obstetrician, gynecologist, and Minimal Access Surgeon who worked at the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree.

Until he was reassigned to the Ministry of Education, Dr Morufu Olatunji Alausa was the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare.

A board-certified Nephrologist and founder of the Kidney Care Center in the United States, he earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of Lagos.

Dr Alausa also trained in the US and the UK and was an Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical School among other important positions he had held abroad.

Before now, Bello Muhammad Goronyo was Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation.

A two-time member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, he represented Goronyo Constituency between 2007 and 2015, during which he served as Minority Leader, Deputy Leader and Deputy Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly.

He was later appointed as a Commissioner by the Government of Sokoto State from 2015 to 2018.

Goronyo was the Zonal Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC) Northwest, and Director, National Youth Mobilization for the Asiwaju/Shettima 2023 APC Presidential Campaign Council Northwest Zone.

He holds a Diploma in law from the College of Art and Science, Sokoto; a Bachelors Degree in Law (LLB) from the Usman Danfodio University Sokoto; a Master’s Degree in Energy Security Management from the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna and a Masters in Business Management and Leadership from the London Graduate School, UK. He also has a Masters in Philosophy in Leadership and Strategic Studies, from the Nigerian Defence Academy, (NDA), Kaduna.

Appointed Minister of Niger Delta Development in 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, Abubakar Momoh, a former legislator of the Edo State House of Assembly and the House of Representatives, is the Minister for the newly-created Ministry of Regional Development.

Momoh began his political career as a local government councillor. He served as a lawmaker in the Edo State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2003 and later represented Etsako Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007. He returned to the House in 2011.

Uba Maigari Ahmadu was a former Deputy Governor of Taraba State under Jolly Nyame of PDP who was the governor of Taraba State between 1999 and 2007.
Ahmadu is a lawyer by profession and was Chairman of the APC Governorship and House of Assembly primaries for Borno State in the 2023 election. Before his new appointment, he was the Minister of State for Steel Development.

Following her successful banking career, Dr Doris Uzoka Anite was appointed Commissioner for Finance in Imo State by Governor Hope Uzodinma. Until her new deployment to the Ministry of Finance, she was the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.

Senator John Owan Enoh was elected to the House of Representatives in 2003, and served in the 5th, 6th and 7th Assemblies..

He served as deputy chairman of the House Committee on Culture & Tourism (2003-2005) and the House Committee on Appropriation (2005-2007). He was also chairman of the House Committee on Finance (2007-2011) and chaired the Committee on Appropriation from 2011 to 2015.

He was elected to represent the Cross River Central Senatorial District and served in the 8th Senate (2015-2019) as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. Senator Enoh was appointed minister of Sports Development in 2023.

Before her new appointment, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim was the Minister of State Police Affairs, the first female to hold the office.

Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim was the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) from 2020 to 2021. She was redeployed as the Honourable Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons in 2021.

She was a member of the Nasarawa State Economic Advisory Council in 2019.

Ayodele Olawande is the new Minister for Youth Development.
A graduate of the Federal University of Technology Akure, Olawande established the Action Youth Movement (AYM) in 2015. He served as the ICT director for the APC in Ondo State, and was the Auditor for Ward 9, Akure South of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He also served at different times as APC youth leader from the ward to the state level and was elected as the Ondo State APC Youth Leader in 2012.
He was also the Personal Assistant to the Special Adviser Innovation to the Vice President from 2019 to 2023.

The new Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare holds an MBBS degree from the University of Lagos and Masters in Public Health from the Lagos State University. He also has a PhD in Public Health specializing in Health Policy and Management.

Dr Salako served at various times as the Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Housing and Health between 2007 and 2011. He was appointed Chairman of the Ogun State Hospitals Management Board in 2020 and became the Minister of State for Environment in 2023.