Tinubu Axes 7 Ministers in Sweeping Cabinet Reshuffle — Full List of Who Is In and Who Is Out

President Bola Tinubu has dismissed seven ministers and sworn in six new appointees in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle that Aso Rock sources describe as long overdue. The shake-up, confirmed by the State House on Sunday evening, ends months of speculation about the fate of underperforming ministers and signals a clear pivot toward the 2027 general election cycle.

The reshuffle is the largest single cabinet change since Tinubu took office in May 2023 and comes after sustained pressure from within the ruling All Progressives Congress, whose governors and party chieftains have privately complained about ministerial performance for over a year.

Who Lost Their Seat

Among those shown the door are the ministers of power, works, and humanitarian affairs — three portfolios that have attracted the most public criticism over the past twelve months. The power minister, whose tenure coincided with some of the worst grid collapses in recent memory, had been widely expected to go since February. The works minister exits amid a cloud of controversy over the slow pace of federal road projects and unresolved contractor payment disputes running into hundreds of billions of naira.

The humanitarian affairs minister's removal is the most politically charged of the batch. Her ministry has been at the centre of a running dispute with the National Assembly over the disbursement of palliative funds, with a Senate committee accusing the ministry of systemic irregularities in beneficiary selection. She has denied all wrongdoing.

"The President has exercised his constitutional prerogative to reconstitute the Federal Executive Council in line with his administration's commitment to delivering results for Nigerians."

— State House Spokesperson

The New Faces

The six incoming ministers include two technocrats with private sector backgrounds, a former state governor, and three party loyalists whose appointments are widely read as political rewards ahead of 2027. The most closely watched new appointment is the incoming minister of power — a former managing director of a major energy company whose track record in the private sector has drawn cautious optimism from industry analysts.

The former governor joining the cabinet brings significant political weight from the South-South geopolitical zone, a region Tinubu's strategists regard as critical to any credible 2027 re-election campaign. His appointment is seen as a direct response to growing restlessness among South-South APC stakeholders who have complained of marginalisation since 2023.

The 2027 Calculation

Political analysts are unanimous that the timing of the reshuffle — with exactly twelve months to the start of the 2027 campaign season — is not coincidental. "This is Tinubu repositioning," one senior APC source told The Trojan Beast. "The ministers who stayed are the ones who can deliver votes. The ones who left are the ones who became liabilities."

The reshuffle also addresses a persistent criticism from within the APC's own ranks: that the original cabinet was too heavily weighted toward Lagos and Southwest interests. Three of the six new appointees are from the North, a deliberate recalibration that party insiders say was non-negotiable if Tinubu is to consolidate his northern support base before 2027.

What Changes — and What Does Not

The finance, foreign affairs, and defence ministers all survive the reshuffle, a signal that Tinubu is satisfied with performance in the portfolios he regards as most strategically sensitive. The finance minister's retention in particular will be read as a vote of confidence in the administration's economic direction, however contested that direction remains among ordinary Nigerians still grappling with the cost-of-living crisis.

What the reshuffle does not change is the fundamental challenge facing the Tinubu administration: an economy where inflation remains elevated, the naira has not recovered its pre-2023 value, and millions of Nigerians are worse off in real terms than they were three years ago. New ministers can change the faces in the cabinet room. They cannot, by themselves, change those numbers.

The Senate is expected to screen the new nominees within the next two weeks. Given the APC's majority in the upper chamber, confirmation is expected to be a formality — though opposition senators have already signalled they will use the screening sessions to press the nominees on policy specifics.