Radio callers in Cross River State, including public affairs analysts and activists, have expressed dismay over the redesignation of Senator John Owan-Enoh from Minister of Sports to Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
They see the new position as a junior ministerial role.
On Wednesday, during the Federal Executive Council, FEC, President Bola Tinubu removed five ministers and scrapped the ministries of Sports and Niger Delta Affairs.
The government also announced appointments of seven new ministers.
The development has attracted heated conversation in Cross River, with many condembing Enoh’s demotion.
In a program on Sparkling FM Radio in Calabar on Thursday morning, several phone-in callers also denounced the development, describing it as insult to the state.
They recalled how Justice Walter Onnoghen was unceremoniously removed from office as Chief Justice of Nigeria by the government of Muhammadu Buhari.
They also lamented over the suspension of Dr Betta Edu as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs earlier in the year.
They alleged that Tinubu’s administration has relegated the state, even though former governor, Ben Ayade, in May 2022 took the state from PDP to APC.
One of the callers, Timothy Edem, said, “The redesignation of Owan-Enoh, a former full fledged minister adjudged as one of the ten best performing, as minister of state is a clear demotion of the state.”
Another caller, Mrs Beatrice Akpan, from Calabar Municipality, wondered why the Minister of Petroleum, who she said is the worst performing, was not also removed.
