Retreat: Tinubu warns ministers against personal ambitions

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked his ministers to dump their personal ambitions and focus on his administration’s effort to pull Nigeria out of poverty.

He gave the warning yesterday at the end of the three-day retreat for ministers, permanent secretaries, presidential aides and other top government officials at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Tinubu, who told the participants that they have the responsibility to change the narrative about the country, said that if they had any problem about Nigeria, they should have a conversation about it.

He also underscored the need for the officials to bond together and ensure that the country recovers from “elephantiasis.”

“Let me remind you that you are not here to make excuses neither am I. I’m your friend, your brother, a father and grandfather.”

This is as the Federal Government has expressed readiness to define consequences and accelerate prosecution of individuals, including lawmakers, who do not complete contracts awarded to them.

This was part of the resolutions read yesterday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, at the end of the three-day cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries in the State House Conference Centre,

Abuja.

He said the retreat also raised the approval threshold for public procurement and encourage open bidding for transparency as part of administrative processes of the government.

Akume said synthesis of key recommendations from technical sessions also included the resolutions to improve alignment of the budget for the MDAs to the president's vision, strategic goals and relevant KPIs and to formulate a standardised checklist detailing appointment criteria for ministers and heads of agencies.

The SGF added that the retreat also resolved to evaluate the efficiency of previous FG Intervention Programmes and conduct proper pre- and postproject assessments to determine the efficacy of the programmes.

Meanwhile, the minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has described the mischaracterisation of the line item titled “presidential yacht” in the 2023 supplementary appropriation “unfortunate”.

He reacted to the controversy at the close of the three-day cabinet retreat held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

Bagudu, who rued the controversy surrounding the purchase, restated that the yacht was not intended for the president’s personal use.

Bagudu, who defended the allocation of a significant portion of the budget to defense and security, stressed the importance of these funds in enhancing national security. as