Welcome Address and Context Setting By The Secretary To The Government Of The Federation, Senator (DR). George Akume, At The 2023 Cabinet Retreat, Held At The State House Conference Centre, Abuja

Protocol

I am delighted to welcome you to the 2023 Cabinet Retreat organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries and Top Government Functionaries. 

Let me specially welcome to this important event; His Excellency, the President; His Excellency, the Vice President; President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Members of the Federal Executive Council; Permanent Secretaries, Top Government Functionaries, our partners and other Special Guests.

May I use this opportunity to, on behalf of the Ministers and other appointees, formally thank His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for considering us worthy to share in his broad vision of delivering unprecedented and progressive service to our great Nation in different capacities.

Your Excellency, Mr. President, we assure you of our unalloyed loyalty and dedication to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of your Administration.

To achieve this objective, this Cabinet Retreat is designed to prepare and sensitize Ministers and other participants on the workings and processes of Government with a view to ensuring Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) deliver on the Presidential Priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda for 2023 – 2027.

The retreat will also provide opportunity to deepen the understanding of participants on best practices in conducing Government business.

More specifically, the Retreat will focus on:
ensuring all members are abreast of essential Government processes relating to procurement, budgeting, anti-corruption drive, Federal Executive Council and the role of the Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in managing their Ministries;
discussing critical enablers for the robust management of relationship with key stakeholders of Government;
understanding the delivery framework and tracking mechanism of the Federal Government; and
addressing any tasks and expectations as the President may highlight and direct.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, you will recall that the Eight (8) Presidential Priorities were again unveiled by His Excellency, Mr. President during the inauguration of the National Economic Council.

These Priorities are:
Food Security;
Ending Poverty;
Economic Growth and Job Creation;
Access to Capital;
Inclusivity: Drawing on all Skills Base;
Security,
Fairness and Rule of Law; and
Anti-corruption Stance.

The Priorities have been further unbundled into the following Focus Areas:
Reform the Economy to deliver Sustained Inclusive Growth;
Strengthen National Security for Peace and Prosperity;
Boost Agriculture to Achieve Food Security;
Unlock Energy and Natural Resources for Sustainable Development;
Enhance Infrastructure and Transportation as Enablers of Growth;
Focus on Education, Health and Social Investment as Essential Pillars of Development;
Accelerate Industrialization through Digital Economy, Manufacturing and Innovative Technology; and
Improve Governance for Effective Service Delivery.

At this juncture, it is important to state that, prior to this retreat, the Central Delivery Coordination Unit (CDCU) in the Cabinet Affairs Office of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, held extensive bilateral engagements with all the 35 Ministries and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to develop the Ministerial Deliverables that will facilitate the actualisation of the Eight (8) Priority Areas of this Administration.

These bilateral engagements were followed by robust technical sessions between the Ministries and the CDCU team with support from our Development/Technical Partners that included the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office-Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (FCDO-PERL), Messrs KPMG Nigeria, Messrs McKinsey and Company Nigeria, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change amongst others.

The Ministerial Deliverables are strategically crafted to address the Priorities and Focus Areas of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration from 2023 to 2027. These Ministerial Deliverables were derived from the Renewed Hope Manifesto, Report of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), the National Development Plan (2021 – 2025), Sectoral Plans including Policies, Programmes & Projects of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The bilateral engagements provided opportunity for the team from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to sensitise the Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and technical teams of Ministries on the broad vision of the President as encapsulated in the 8 Priority Areas.

The engagements also afforded the Ministers the opportunity to make very useful inputs into crafting of the Deliverables and their indicators for effective measurements and assessments.

The Federal Executive Council is the highest decision making body as provided in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To make its deliberations effective and robust, it is necessary to draw your attention to the fact that there are guidelines for the end-to-end procedures and processes that cabinet members would need to follow in submitting policy, legal, contract and other categories of memos. You will be availed these guidelines during this retreat.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, may I, at this juncture state that, as members of the President’s team, we have been entrusted with huge responsibilities to drive policies and programs under portfolios that we hold.

Let me also remind us that there will always be cross cutting activities, programs and policies. This demands that collaboration and common vision should always guide our actions and decisions. This Retreat, therefore, will afford us the opportunity to share in the President’s vision, his dream and to fine tune our strategies for a prosperous Nigeria.

Let me quickly reiterate that as members of the Federal Executive Council, Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are expected to uphold high level of integrity, patriotism, dedication and diligence to the Service of our fatherland.

We are the first line advisers to the President and we are expected to speak the truth and to support the President with untainted selflessness. Above all we must be accountable and must place public interest above every other interest(s). As Ministers, we must be united in upholding national cohesion, promote peace for national unity and development.

This inaugural retreat has been structured into four (4) main segments to address its key objectives. The first will feature the Administrative processes for the delivery of Government policies, plans and projects. During this session, participants will be apprised of the Roles and Responsibilities of Ministers; Management of the Federal Executive Council; Financial Regulations; Federal Government budget and procurement processes amongst others.

The second session will focus on Managing relationships with key stakeholders such as the Legislature, Parastatals, the Media and Citizens. The third segment will feature Technical Presentations focusing on the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’; Accelerators for inclusive and resilient economic growth; and Understanding the delivery mechanism for the Renewed Hope Agenda. Fourthly, there will be Panel Session along the Focus Areas on how to deliver on the Priority Areas of Mr. President.

Distinguished participants, the high point of this Retreat will feature the signing of the Ministerial Performance Bond by the Ministers, Ministers of State and Permanent Secretaries. The Bonds contain the Ministerial Deliverables alongside their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Each of the KPIs contain the baselines data and targets for the next four years. The Ministries’ performance will be assessed quarterly beginning from the end of first quarter of 2024. In this regard, Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are enjoined to prioritise implementation of these deliverables through appropriate budgeting and implementation to ensure the achievement of Mr. President’s Priorities.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, may I inform that this Retreat is strategically packaged to be participatory and result-oriented.

To this end, I urge you all to make useful and constructive contributions during the panel sessions. The outcome of the Retreat is expected to pave the way for accelerated delivery of Government Policies, Programmes, and Projects of this Administration for the next four years.

Once again, I welcome you all to this very important Cabinet Retreat as I look forward to your active participation throughout the duration of the retreat.

I thank you for your kind attention.