President Bola Tinubu has redeployed the Minister of Transportation Gboyega Oyetola to the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Oyetola was initially assigned to the Ministry of Transportation when the president assigned a portfolio to his ministerial nominees on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.
But in a statement by the Special to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Sunday, Oyetola will now oversee the affairs of the new ministry which was one of the new ministries created by Tinubu.
Oyetola was a former governor of Osun State. He lost his reelection bid to an opposition People’s Democratic Party in Osun.
Oyetola now replaces Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo in the new ministry. Tunji-Ojo who is battling with an alleged scandal surrounding his NYSC certificate was a member of the House of Representatives before his nomination. He hails from Ondo State.
Similarly, the president also made other ‘reshuffles’ before the official swearing-in. Abubakr Momoh was moved from Youth to Niger Delta Development; Bunmi Tunji-Ojo who was formerly assigned to the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy will now oversee the Ministry of Interior, while Sa’idu Alkali (formerly of Interior) has been redeployed to the Ministry of Transportation.
Other changes include:
Ekperipe Ekpo from Minister of State, gas and Petroleum now Minister of State, (Gas) Petroleum Resources while Minister of State, Petroleum Resources Heineken Lokpobiri is now the Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources.
The Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management will be known as (revert) to its former name, the Federal Ministry of Environment
The deployment was announced a few hours before the new ministers will be sworn which is scheduled to take place in Abuja on Monday, August 21, 2023.