Femi Adesina: Ministers to Sign Commitment Form After Swearing in This Morning

(The Crest Exclusive)

By Shola Oshunkeye

It is authoritative. As President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurates his cabinet and swears in his Ministers, this morning, they will sign a performance mandate document to underscore their unalloyed commitment to the country; and their readiness to key into the President’s vision of making life abundant for Nigerians.

Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in an exclusive interview he granted The Crest, Tuesday, in Abuja, shortly after the curtains fell on the two-day retreat for ministers, permanent secretaries, and other top administration officials.

The retreat, held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, was a prelude to the inauguration of the Ministers this morning.

Though it is a continuous assessment mechanism, with performance deliverables to the Minister, Adesina vehemently disagreed that the document is the same as the advance or pre-term resignation letter which President Olusegun Obasanjo compelled his ministers to sign at the onset of their tenure to ensure performance.

It is not “like the predated resignation letter collected by a President in the past,” the Special Adviser said categorically. “It is not.”

Then, he proceed to state what it is.

“Performance mandate is just to make them indicate that they identify with the visions and aspirations of government,” he continued. “That is what it means. It’s not just Ministers, even permanent secretaries would sign to show that we are one with government. That we identify with this vision, this policy, this direction.”

So, what are the wages or penalties for non-performance? This reporter asked the media adviser.

“The President is a faithful man who believes that loyalty is both ways,” Adesina declared. “The people he appointed should be loyal to him, loyal to the country; and he too will be loyal to them. It’s only anyone who falls far, far below the mark that the President would decide what to do with him or her.”

Please, enjoy the rest of the interview:

A while ago, while you were talking to Channels Television, you mentioned something about a mandate form which Ministers would be made to sign tomorrow (Wednesday, August 21, 2019) after they are sworn in.

(Cuts in…) It’s not that they would be made to sign. You made it to sound like the predated resignation letter…

No.                   

You made it to sound like the predated resignation letter collected by a President in the past. It is not.

No.

Performance mandate is just to make them indicate that they identify with the visions and aspirations of government. That is what it means. It’s not just Ministers, even permanent secretaries would sign to show that we are at one with government. This vision, this policy, this direction, we identify with them.

Is it a universal letter or it is customised to tally with the peculiarities of the ministry a minister is being assigned?

Not really. It is a global vision for the government. Each one would append his signature to the global vision.

The performance mandate would not set specific targets per minister?

Of course, each minister would be given performance deliverables according to the President who is the appointer. But there is a global vision of the government and that is the performance mandate they will append their signature to so that they will identify with the vision and say: we would run with it; we would be part of it.

Does the mandate prescribe any penalties for anyone who falls short of the set goals?

This government is not that type. But when there is monitoring and evaluation, if you fall short of the evaluation, nobody needs to tell you to go before you know that you either sit up or go. It’s not the question of a big stick being wielded over the head of the ministers. No.

I don’t think it would be as easy as you have said because, number 1: the President does not have the culture of changing his team members no matter how terribly they perform, no matter how low they fall. Secondly, we don’t have the culture of resigning even when it is glaring that we are not performing.   

There is no need to change for the sake of change. The thing about some Nigerians is that they just like to see people fall from grace. They like to see people fall from certain elevated positions. I don’t know the pleasure they derive from it. They are not the ones that will replace those people but they just derive joy from seeing people fall from lofty positions. The President is a faithful man who believes that loyalty is both ways. The people he appointed should be loyal to him, loyal to the country; and he too will be loyal to them. It’s only anyone who falls far, far below the mark that the President would decide what to do with him or her.

On the closing day of the retreat for the ministers-designate, Tuesday, the President reiterated his ambition to pull 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the coming years. How optimistic are you that this team would help the President to deliver on this promise?

Yes, this administration is not going to last 10 years. It has four years, less three months to work. It would begin the work and the next administration would continue. But the blueprint would be enunciated by the administration and, it would begin to do the work. Already, it’s is doing it.  For instance, the Central Bank of Nigeria has given itself a target on how many people it wants to pull out of poverty in certain number of years; I think about five million people in four years. The Ministry of Trade and Investment has also said it would take five million out of poverty. That’s how each component of government will play its part and then we will be on the road to achieving that 10 years mark.

Finally, how often would this periodic assessment of the ministers be made?

It was said at the retreat that we should do this every six months. It was a proposal. Whether it would be adopted, I’m not sure yet. But it was a proposal that we should do this every six months. That we should come together, review and preview every six months. But beyond that, the President will have his own indices of measurement for the ministers.

It seems as if you don’t like the idea of the President preparing a pre-term resignation letter for the Minister as President Obasanjo did.

It’s not the style of Mr. President. It may have been the style of some Presidents in the past but not this President. This President does not breathe down the neck of his appointees. Once he has appointed you, that shows he has confidence in you. And he leaves you to do what you are going to do to the best of your ability. If it happens that you now fall far, far short, he knows what to do.

But the idea of a pre-term or advanced resignation letter has the advantage of keeping people on their toes.

Everything has advantages and disadvantages.