The Federal Government has directed all outgoing ministers to complete the handing over and taking over processes on or before October 30.
This followed the reshuffling of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday leading to the discharge of five ministers, nomination of seven news persons for ministerial appointment, reassignment of ten ministers and restructuring of some ministries.
In a memorandum on Wednesday evening, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, outlined the transition process.
According to the memorandum, outgoing ministers without incoming counterparts are expected to hand over to Permanent Secretaries.
The memo further said the SGF’s office, in collaboration with the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, is coordinating the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, and the winding down of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development.
It said the renaming and expansion of the mandate of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development takes immediate effect, adding that relevant supervising authorities and commissions under the new ministry have been notified.
Permanent Secretaries of affected ministries must ensure seamless implementation and forward copies of handover notes to the SGF’s office for record-keeping purposes.
“Necessary directives have been issued on the implementation of the approval of Mr President, accordingly.
“All handing over and taking over processes should be completed on/or before Wednesday 30th October, 2024.
“In the case of Ministries where there are no Ministers to take-over, the out-going Ministers should hand over to the Permanent Secretaries.
“The processes for the seamless merger of the Ministry of Tourism with Ministry of Arts Culture and Creative Economy as well as the winding-down of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development are
being coordinated jointly by the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
“Similarly, the renaming and the expansion of mandate of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development is to take immediate effect. The releasing supervising authorities as well as Commissions under the new Ministry have been duly notified on this development.
“Respective Permanent Secretaries are directed to ensure seamless implementation and also forward one copy each of the hand-over notes to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the records,” the memorandum reads.
