There are indications that President
Goodluck Jonathan had directed the Bamanga Tukur
faction of the Peoples Democratic Party to compile names of its members
for minisiterial positions.
A member of the National Working
Committee of the faction, who made this known in Abuja on Sunday, said the
directive was already being complied with.
Jonathan, in his first major
cabinet shake-up since his inauguration on May 29, 2011, had on Wednesday
sacked nine ministers.
The sacked
ministers were Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai
(Education), Okon Ewa-Bassey (Science and Technology),
Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs), Hadiza Mailafia (Environment),
Shamsudeen Usman (National Planning),and Ama Pepple (Housing,
Lands and Urban Development).
Also affected were
Olusola Obada(Defence), and her counterparts in the Agriculture
Ministry, Alhaji Bukar Tijani, and Power, Zainab Kuchi.
The Minister of Information, Mr.
Labaran Maku, had explained that the sacking of the ministers had no
political undertone but there were reports that it was fallout of
the crisis in the PDP.
The PDP was
factionalised on August 31 when seven of its governors formed a
faction, known as New PDP.
The NWC member, who pleaded
anonymity, said, “The President has directed the party to suggest names for the
vacant ministerial slots. We have already asked our state chapters to
send their nominees to us. As I talk to you, we are waiting for their
nominees.”
It was gathered that in states
governed by the seven governors in the New PDP, politicians loyal to the
President, would nominate candidates for vacant slots.
In Rivers State, where Pepple lost
her job, party chieftains, including the Deputy National Chairman of the
Tuku-led faction, Uche Secondus and the Minister of State for Education,
Nyesom Wike, would play a role in getting her replacement.
In the South-West, there are two
vacancies because of the removal of Ashiru and Obada.
It was gathered that chieftains of
the PDP, Chief Olabode George and a financier of the party, Chief Buruji
Kasamu, were expected to nominate candidates for the zone.
In Kaduna State, the southern part of
the state would fill the vacancy created by the sack of Mailafia.
In Niger State, it was learnt that a
former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and an ex-Minister of
Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, might nominate an indigene of the state to
replace Kuchi.
It was also gathered that, to fill
the vacant ministerial slots, governors that were loyal to the President had
been directed to nominate candidates, if there were vacancies in their
states.
It was learnt that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Godswill
Akpabio, would nominate a chieftain of the party in the state to replace
Ewa-Bassey, a native of the state.
When asked to comment on the
development, the PDP National Publicity Secreary, Chief Olish Metuh,
said, “That is not important. It is the President that will choose
whoever he wants to work with him to achieve his transformation agenda.”
The Special Adviser to the President
on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, had on Friday said Jonathan
was still consulting on the appointment of new ministers.
She had said, “He is still
consulting. He will present the list to the National Assembly as
soon as he concludes his consultations.”
Meanwhile, investigations on
Sunday revealed that security reports were mostly responsible for the sack of
the ministers.
A Presidency source told one of our
correspondents that following the crisis in the PDP, the Presidency could no
longer trust the affected ministers.
The source said, “The
ministers were nailed by security reports. Their telephone lines were bugged
and they were being monitored for at least four months. It was discovered that
they were no longer sincere with Mr. President, especially since the internal
crises in PDP erupted.
“Go and find out, no sincere
government or President will tolerate a minister whose loyalty is in doubt. In
the case of the affected ministers, they were having divided loyalties. First,
to their state governors or the godfathers who nominated them and secondly to Mr.
President.
“But by their functions, their
loyalty to the President should be total and so the best option is to shop for
people with committed loyalty and not divided loyalty. This should be a
serious lesson to any public servant; divided loyalty is never tolerated
anywhere in the world.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the
President’s Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, prooved
abortive as he could not be reached through his mobile telephone.
A civil rights organisation,
the Anti-Corruption Network, has, however, described the sacking of
the ministers as vindictive.
The Executive Secretary of the group
and former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, in an interview
with one of our correspondents, linked the sacking to the crisis in the
PDP.
He said, “The sacking of the
ministers is vindictive, petty and political. It shows that
President Jonathan, like I have always said, condones, romances and
promotes corruption. He spared all the corrupt thieves in his government,
including those who are still busy enjoying their loots.
“The sacking of these ministers
is a cowardly reaction. The former Minister of Education was a
nominee of the Jigawa State Governor. The ex-minister of National
Planning is from Kano State and it is because Jonathan wants to
appoint a strong politician who will fight Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano
State.”
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Politics