•President Umaru Yar’Adua congratulates Prof. Dora Akunyili after she was sworn in as Minister of Information and Communications yesterday Photo by Bayo Obisesan

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President Umaru Yar’Adua on Wednesday reconstituted his cabinet as he swore in the 16 new ministers recently screened and cleared by the Senate, pronouncing a new dawn in his 19-month presidency. The cabinet shake-up witnessed quite some surprises with the re-assignment of a number of the old ministers to new ministries and the allocation of portfolios to the new ones.
If the redeployment of Dr. Shamsudeen Usman from the Ministry of Finance to National Planning and the former Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke to the Ministry of Mines and Power jolted the audience, the pronouncement of the former NAFDAC boss, Prof. Dora Akunyili as the new Information and Communication Minister was greeted with more surprise.

Among the old ministers, only the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa, the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abba Ruma, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, the Minister of Interior, Maj-Gen. Godwin Abbe, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola retained their portfolios.

Others include the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bagudu Hirse, the Minister of State in charge of Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia and the Minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlami Olasunkanmi. Others were re-assigned new ministries.
Looking serious as ever, the president told both the old and new ministers to brace up for the tasks ahead, saying it was a new dispensation requiring what he called definitive performance benchmarks bordering on effective service delivery, strict adherence to due process, and unwavering focus on the policy objectives of his administration.

“These are the minimal standards that will guarantee continued membership of the Executive Council of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he told the ministers as he welcomed them onboard the administration’s new era.
He enjoined the ministers to see their appointments at all times as a sacred call to national service and not an opportunity for self aggrandizement or the pursuit of narrow, selfish interests.
“The task of nation building and national transformation calls for honesty of purpose, sincerity, consummate diligence, and unmediated commitment to the national cause. The people of this nation demand no less from each and every one of us. Our every act must be guided by the highest standards of integrity and the fear of God,” he further stated.

President Yar’Adua restated his government’s zero tolerance for corruption, pointing out that any proven case of corrupt practice by any member of the Federal Executive Council would be visited with the strictest sanctions.
“I must reiterate our administration’s total abhorrence of corruption in all its ramifications and our insistence on absolute compliance with established rules, regulations and procedures in the conduct of all government business. Any proven case of corrupt practices or non-conformity with the rule of law and constitutionality will be visited with the strictest sanctions.

In this period of stark economic realities at home and unprecedented global economic challenges, we all must begin to think out of the box, recommit to the ideal of prudent and judicious application of resources, and stay faithful to the principles of value for money, transparency, accountability, and the rule of law,” he added.

While congratulating the ministers, he expressed the hope that they would function in the new cabinet as a compact, effective, efficient, and focused team of patriots committed to the repositioning and transformation of the country.