By Dipo Olowookere
The Ministries of Niger Delta Development and Sports have been scrapped by President Bola Tinubu, ostensibly in a bid to cost down the cost of governance.
President Tinubu, who recently returned to the country from a two-week working vacation in the United Kingdom, announced the dissolution of the ministries at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
In a post on his X, formerly Twitter, handle this afternoon, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that the National Sports Commission (NSC) would run the affairs of the dissolved Ministry of Sports.
He also stated that a new ministry known as the Ministry of Regional Development would be formed to oversee the affairs of all regional development commissions in the country.
Further, Mr Tinubu has merged the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.
“President Tinubu and Federal Executive Council scrapped the Niger Delta Ministry and the Ministry of Sports Development.
“There will now be a Ministry of Regional Development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and North East Development Commission.
“The National Sports Commission will take over the role of the Ministry of Sports.
“The FEC also approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.
“The decisions were taken today at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja,” the statement said.