As Nigeria prepares for a historic transition of power from President Muhammadu Buhari to President-elect Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, there is no sign of a cabinet reshuffle in the outgoing administration.
Contrary to some media reports that Buhari has dissolved his cabinet at the farewell Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has clarified that all ministers have been instructed by the president to remain in office until the last day of his tenure.
Mohammed told reporters after the FEC meeting that “the news that the Federal Executive Council has been dissolved is not correct.
“We have been directed by the President that we should all go back and return to our offices. So, it is not true that the Federal Executive Council has been dissolved, it is still very much alive.”
He added that “the fake news that is circulating that the Federal Executive Council has been dissolved, it is not true. It has not been dissolved, we have all been directed to go back to our offices and I’m sure that we’re going to work up till 29th of May. So please ignore the fake news.”
Buhari, a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country’s military head of state from 1983 to 19851, was democratically elected president in 2015 and re-elected in 20192. He is the last of a generation of British-trained military men who went on to govern the country.
He will be succeeded by Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, who won the 2023 presidential election by a landslide margin.
