The duo, they said, performed below average as they failed to lift their ministries to loftier heights over the years.

President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier on Wednesday, in an unexpected action, fired the ministers via a statement signed by his Special Adviser, (Media & Publicity) Femi Adesina.

The President said the sackings were a sequel to the “tradition of subjecting our projects and programmes implementation to independent and critical self-review”.

He added, “These significant review steps have helped to identify and strengthen weak areas, close gaps, build cohesion and synergy in governance, manage the economy and improve the delivery of public good to Nigerians”.

President Buhari in the statement also approved the redeployment of the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, to the ministry of power, while the Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar, was moved to the ministry of agriculture and rural development.

Appraising the development, Mamman, Nigerians particularly claimed, failed to make any significant impact in the power sector, considering the frequent collapse of the national grid and the arbitrary increment in electricity tariff.

The national grid has collapsed no fewer than six times this year, while electricity tariff has increased on more than two occasions in the last year.

Sixty-three-year Mamman, who held sway in the power ministry for 24 months, was appointed by President Buhari in August 2019.

Nanono’s era in the agriculture ministry, which lasted for two years equally, witnessed numerous controversies, the latest being the grazing reserves crisis and the diversion of N30 million for the building of a mosque in Borno State.

But a member of the House of Representatives, Dachung Bagos, described their sacking as a welcomed development.

Bagos, who represents Jos South/Jos East in the Green Chamber, said Nigerians had long expected the sacking, especially when it was obvious the ministers were underperforming.

Bagos added, “The two ministers have not been doing well. There is nothing to show in the power sector in the last years. It has been very problematic. It has also been witnessing frequent electricity tariff increments even as another hike is a possibility.

“Then look at the agricultural sector, instead of looking at mechanized farming, the sacked minister was dissipating energy on the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which is not in the interest of the majority of Nigerians”.

The lawmaker, who urged the new ministers to endeavor to rev up their ministries, particularly tasked the new power minister to look into the proposed hike in electricity tariff”.

Also, a chieftain of the Conference of All Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Mr. Willy Ezugwu, hailed the sacking, saying the President got it right this time around.

Ezugwu said, “This is what we have been canvassing. As the President to whom over 200 million Nigerians look up, we believe he should look into the cases of maladministration by some of his appointees. Apart from these two persons, there are still others in his cabinet who are not performing. We expect that he should also do the needful by asking them to go.

Ezugwu also stated that alleged spending of N30 million for a mosque trailing the office of the minister was not a good piece of news.

Recall that a leaked memo dated December 10, 2020, with Ref. No. FMA/PROC/AHS/SIP/2020/7742/1, and signed by Musa Musa, the Deputy Director of Procurement in ministry on behalf of the minister, showed that the contract for the mosque was awarded to El-Shukhur Multi-Buz Nig. Ltd.

For an Abuja-based public affairs analyst, Yakubu Mohammed, the sacking of Nanono could not be unrelated to the policy summersault in the area of livestock production.

Another source, who didn’t want his name in print, however, disclosed that Nanono’s alleged involvement in the mosque deal was one of his undoings.

The source added, “On Mamman, before he was given that ministry, he was always attacking Babatunde Fashola but when he got there, he could not differentiate his left from his right hand”.

Again, according to him, the electricity distribution companies overburdened the average Nigerian with excessive bills and other ills but the minister failed to call them to order.

He said, “Nigerians are tired. The Federal Government through the regulatory agencies under the supervision of the minister is not equal to the tasks set before them. Furthermore, the power sector deregulation policy was supposed to be reviewed regularly but the former minister was silent on that for reasons best known to him”.

Meanwhile, President, Power Consumers Protection Network, Mr. Kunle Olubiyo, has urged Nigerians to be cautious in their claims over the sackings.

Olubiyo said, “Yes, there is no doubt that many things have gone wrong in the power industry, but I can also say that such did not start today. They did not even start from the Jonathan administration.

They can be traced back to the Obasanjo and Yar’Adua administrations. So, we all need to work on policy implementation to see that things start working again in our country”.