President Bola Tinubu swore in Mr. Joseph Tegbe as minister of power and Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye as minister of state for foreign affairs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.
This comes following the resignation of at least two ministers ahead of the All Progressives Congress’ May 2026 primary elections.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the short ceremony was held in the Council Chamber in front of the ministers’ spouses and senior government officials.
The two men were nominated by the president on May 5, 2026, following the resignations of former power minister Adebayo Adelabu and former foreign affairs minister Yusuf Tuggar, who both stepped down to run for office.
The Senate screened and confirmed both ministerial nominees the following day, May 6.
Tegbe and Enikanolaiye are the second set of ministers Dr. Muttaqha Darma has to be inducted into the Federal Executive Council since the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, in March 2026, issued a circular directing all ministers with political ambitions to resign before the primaries.
Darma was sworn in as minister of housing and urban development on April 30, 2026, replacing Dr. Ahmed Dangiwa, whose exit was part of the cabinet reshuffle that saw the exit of Mr. Wale Edun as finance minister, with Taiwo Oyedele taking over.
Prior to his nomination, Enikanolaiye served as senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and international relations.
His appointment fills the position of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs vacated when Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu was elevated to the full ministerial portfolio following the resignation of Tuggar.
Enikanolaiye, from Kogi State, is a career diplomat with 35 years in Nigeria’s foreign service.
He earned a first-class degree in political science from Ahmadu Bello University, ADU, Zaria, winning the Dean’s Prize as the best student in his faculty, and a master’s degree in international law and diplomacy from the University of Lagos, obtained with distinction.
He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 1982, progressed through the ranks to the post of director, and was appointed permanent secretary in 2016. He retired on August 4, 2017.
He held diplomatic posts in Addis Abeba, Belgrade, Ottawa, London, and New Delhi, culminating in his role as Nigeria’s Head of Mission in India.
He has received various awards, including the Presidential Civil Service Merit Award and the Presidential Distinguished Public Service Career Award, as well as being a Distinguished Fellow of the National Defense College.
Enikanolaiye previously worked as Tinubu’s senior special assistant on foreign affairs and international relations in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Tegbe, born in Ibadan, Oyo State, offers over 35 years of expertise in both the public and commercial sectors to one of the Federal Executive Council’s most politically sensitive roles.
He has a first-class civil engineering degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, a Master of Business Administration from Switzerland, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Birmingham.
He was Senior Partner and Head of Advisory Services at KPMG Africa, where he created and implemented key presidential reforms and oversaw fiscal policy restructuring at the federal and subnational levels.
He has previously worked for the Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Nigeria Revenue Service, Shell, Huawei, General Electric, and MTN, among others.
He is also the director-general and global liaison for the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership.
