A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani, in reaction to Punch Newspaper, dated May 23, 2024, titled “First anniversary: Tinubu directs 47 ministers to showcase scorecards,” has said that notwithstanding the personal assessment recommended by President Tinubu as well as the one coordinated by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy & Coordination and Head Central Delivery Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, has urged the President to consider Section 14[1], 2[a] [c] of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the assessment process.
“Section 14[1], 2[a] [c] of the 1999 Constitution is clear and says, ‘(a) sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority; (c) the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in, in the light of the above, it is desirable citizens opinion and assessment is considered to get an accurate assessment of the Ministers while few Ministers has performed, others are still learning on the job.
Ndarani, SAN, reiterated that allowing ministers to evaluate their own performance undermines the objectivity of the assessment the minister cannot be the judge in their own case.
“Article 19[1]2 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by the government of Nigeria’s law says. ‘1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference; 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall be freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regard frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice’.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria applauded the president for establishing the evaluation standards and urged strict adherence to them, as well as giving Nigerians a voice in the ministers’ assessments since this will improve the outcomes and bring them into compliance with global best practices.
It would be recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu instructed 47 ministers to present their performance scorecards ahead of his administration’s one-year anniversary.
In his New Year message to Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu says his ministers and other appointees would have to be stellar performers to keep their jobs.
“We have set the parameters for evaluation. Within the first quarter of this new year, Ministers and Heads of Agencies with a future in this administration that I lead will continue to show themselves.”
In order to achieve an efficient result, on the above statement of Mr President, provisions of Section 14[1], 2[a] [c] of the 1999 Constitution and Article 19[1]2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is apt to call for opinion and assessment of the citizens to give accurate and desirable results from the assessment of the Minister and all the federal agencies of Nigeria.
