Abuja - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua on Wednesday sacked 20 of his 39 cabinet ministers.

Yar'Adua spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi said that the ministers were dropped as part of efforts to rejuvenate Yar'Adua's administration.

He said that the decision, taken after Wednesday's cabinet meeting, was meant to reposition and strengthen the administration to better deliver services to Nigerians.

Nigerians' perception of Yar'Adua's government since he took office in May 2007 had been that of a lame duck as government's activities had slowed down since his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, left office.

Adeniyi said that Yar'Adua directed that until new ministers were appointed, some of the remaining 19 ministers would supervise ministries vacated by the sacked ministers.

Some of the thorny issues confronting Yar'Adua's administration are the restive Niger Delta region, where militants had been kidnapping expatriates and vandalizing oil production facilities, and the dearth of social infrastructure in the oil-rich, most populous African nation of some 146 million people. (dpa)