Nigerian president discharged four ministers

By African Bulletin on February 13, 2014

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday sacked four of his cabinet ministers in the latest move of repositioning his team to achieve the transformation agenda in the West African country, according to presidency sources.

No official statement has been issued on the development, but sources said the sacked officials include Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah, Minister of Police Affairs Caleb Olubolade, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Godsday Orubebe and Minister of State for Finance Yerima Ngama.

The announcement was made at a weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, the sources added.

It is not clear if the ministers were dropped by the president due to some widely speculated allegations of corruption in high places.

Following the move, speculations emerged among Nigerian citizens that the ministers may have been asked to resign on volition to avoid embarrassment and to pave the way for some of them who had political ambitions in their respective states of origin.

But the presidency sources told Xinhua that the president actually took the step to reposition his team toward achieving some of his campaign promises.

“They (the ministers) were dropped, they did not resign,” said one of the sources who preferred anonymity.

A source at the presidency told Xinhua that the sacking of the former minister of aviation on Wednesday was one of the reasons the president indefinitely postponed a big event at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja, organized by the Ministry of Aviation.

Late last year, numerous groups and individuals in Nigeria called for the removal and prosecution of Oduah, the former minister of aviation.

She was accused of purchasing two unbudgeted bullet proof vehicles at whopping sums and for her personal use. While the scandal was still raising dust in the West African country, the minister was further enmeshed in a certificate forgery controversy.

She was indicted by both the House of Representatives and a presidential committee for compelling the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), an agency under her supervision, to buy her the exotic armored cars in violation of Nigeria’s public procurement laws.

The Nigerian president had promised never to spare the hammer on any official in his cabinet found to be either corrupt or aiding and abetting.

On Aug. 25, 2013, the gale of dismissal began to sweep through the cabinet with the sacking of Abdulkadir Inuwa, former minister of youth development.

A statement from the presidency did not give reasons for the sudden termination of Abdulkadir’s appointment.

On Sept. 11, 2013, during a similar FEC meeting in Abuja, President Jonathan shocked his cabinet members as he sacked nine of them at the inner caucus gathering. The sacked ministers did not have any inkling of their impending sack.

Last month, the president sacked the country’s military top brass, paving the way for a new defense chief and other military officers to be appointed.

On Monday, local media reports said former chief of staff to the president Mike Oghiadomhe was also relieved of his position, although he claimed to have resigned on volition.

As of the time of filing this report, no announcement had been made about the replacement for the ministers who lost their job.

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