I Won’t Accept Excuses For Poor Performance – Tinubu Tells Officials

I won’t Accept Excuses For Poor Performance –Tinubu Tells Officials

By Hussaini Ibrahim Sulaiman

President Bola Tinubu has said that none of his appointees would be allowed to give excuses for non-performance of their assigned duties and responsibilities.

In a New Year address to the nation on Monday, Tinubu said that he had pledged to serve the country and would give his best for the benefit of the Nigerian people.

The President said, “I took an oath to serve this country and give my best at all times. Like I said in the past, no excuse for poor performance from any of my appointees will be good enough.

“It is the reason I put in place a Policy Coordination, Evaluation, Monitoring, and Delivery Unit in the Presidency to make sure that governance output improves the living conditions of our people.

“We have set the parameters for evaluation. Within the first quarter of this new year, ministers and heads of agencies with a future in this administration that I lead will continue to show themselves.

“Fellow Nigerians, my major ambition in government as a Senator in the aborted Third Republic, as Governor of Lagos State for eight years, and now as the President, is to build a fair and equitable society and close the widening inequality.

“While I believe the rich should enjoy their legitimately earned wealth, our minimum bargain must be that any Nigerian who works hard and diligently enough will have a chance to get ahead.

“I must add that because God didn’t create us with equal talents and strengths, I cannot guarantee that we will have equal outcomes when we work hard.

“But my government, in this New Year 2024 and beyond, will work to give every Nigerian an equal opportunity to strive and to thrive.’’

PUNCH Online reported on November 1, 2023, that the President charged the ministers in his cabinet to do all within their powers to deliver on their mandates, saying that was the only way they could retain their seats.

Tinubu said these when he declared open the 2023 Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries, and top government functionaries, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

He had said, “I’m here to assure you and walk with you—the best brains we can put together in civil service, the brains that we can put together in our democratic parliament, and that have been chosen for us by the public.”

The GCFR also expressly said that the ministers and other cabinet members must either perform or be sacked. He stated that the buck stops at his table as President.

Tinubu stressed that their performances would be subjected to periodic review, and results would be the only basis on which they would be able to retain their seats.

“If you are performing, there is nothing to fear. If you miss the objective, we’ll review it. You are leaving us if you do not perform. No one is an island, and the buck stops on my desk,” said the President.

Tinubu, however, noted in the New Year message that individual and collective support and collaboration for the good intentions of government must be exhibited by all Nigerians, adding that building a prosperous Nigeria is not for only a few people.

“Our destinies are connected as members of this household in Nigeria. Our language, creed, ethnicity, and religious beliefs, even when they are not the same, should never make us work at cross purposes.

“In this New Year, let us resolve that, as joint heirs to the Nigerian commonwealth, we will work for the peace, progress, and stability of our country. I extend this call to my political opponents in the last election. Elections are over. It’s time for all of us to work together for the sake of our country.

“We must let the light each of us carries—men and women, young and old—shine brighter and brighter to illuminate our path to a glorious dawn,’’ the President stressed.

He called on Nigerians to continue to be grateful to God for His grace and benevolence to Nigeria in 2023, stressing that better days are ahead for the country in 2024.

“Though the past year was a very challenging one, it was eventful in so many ways.

“For our country, it was a transition year that saw a peaceful, orderly, and successful transfer of power from one administration to another, marking yet another remarkable step in our 24 years of unbroken democracy.

The President assured that the 2024 budget would cater to the pressing needs of the people through the various critical sectors it has appropriated funds.