Claim:
An X user claims that ministers under the incumbent administration led by President Bola Tinubu have gotten low ratings compared to previous ministers in Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading.
Full Text:
The X user (@OdolayeAdisa) claims that “a recent study revealed that President Tinubu has the lowest “Best Minister” rating since 1999.”
The post further claims that “[The] Obasanjo administration had the most “performing” ministers count ever, with 12 ministers. [While] Yar’adua [has] 5, Jonathan – [has] 8, Buhari – [has] 4 [and] Tinubu [has] 2”.
The claim implies that “a study” rated the performance of ministers under previous administrations in Nigeria, and made a comparison of different administrations, concluding that the President Bola Tinubu’s government has low-performing ministers.
Ministers in Nigeria are government officials responsible for specific duties based on their portfolio.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo led Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, handing the baton to Umar Musa Yar’Adua, whose death in 2010 led to succession by Goodluck Jonathan.
Jonathan served as a one-term President between 2010 and 2015. He lost the 2015 general election to Muhammadu Buhari, who presided over the country for eight years (2015–2023).
It has become a practice for the Nigerian government to have a cabinet reshuffle from time to time, and previous and incumbent governments have imbibed the same culture to a varying degrees.
Cabinet reshuffle often leads to sacking of non-performing ministers, and sometimes, changing of portfolio for some ministers.
The X post claims that while Obasanjo had “most performing” ministers, Tinubu has low performing ministers.
The post has gained over three thousand views on X, with many X users questioning the “study” referenced in the post.
Verification:
Ripples Nigeria had reported in October last year the cabinet reshuffle in Tinubu-led government.
An analysis by Ripples Nigeria shows that the number of ministers under Tinubu summed up to 49, the highest in the history of Nigeria.
During the last cabinet reshuffle, the government said it dismissed ministers based on an internal assessments of their performances.
Ripples Nigeria also gathered that Nigerians had rated some ministers on a government tracking application. Five ministers were reportedly rated poorly.
A 2024 survey by African Polling Institute also revealed ratings of ministers –top and low performing ministers – under Tinubu’s one year administration.
Furthermore, while the X user failed to provide the study, Ripples Nigeria could not find any credible study which made a comparative analysis of minister performance under previous and incumbent leadership.