President Bola Tinubu scraps Niger Delta and sports ministries, merging tourism with culture in major reform to cut overhead costs of governance.

In a decisive move as part of his ongoing reforms aimed at reducing overhead costs and streamlining governance, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday scrapped both the Niger Delta Ministry and the Ministry of Sports Development.

This restructuring also saw the Ministry of Tourism merged with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.

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The announcement was made in a statement by the Special Adviser for Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga.

He outlined that, instead of a standalone Niger Delta Ministry, there will now be a unified Ministry of Regional Development.

This new ministry will oversee all regional development commissions, including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and North East Development Commission.

Additionally, the functions of the disbanded Ministry of Sports will be transferred to the National Sports Commission, which will now handle all national sports development activities.

As part of further consolidations, Onanuga confirmed that the Federal Executive Council has approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy, a move expected to foster synergy between these sectors and boost Nigeria’s cultural and tourism initiatives.

President Tinubu’s latest reforms are seen as a strategy to cut down on administrative costs while improving the efficiency of government agencies in addressing key regional and sectoral issues.

The merging of ministries and commissions is also expected to facilitate a more cohesive approach to regional development and cultural promotion across Nigeria.