Revealed: Why
Jonathan sacked
nine ministers
Image
President Goodluck
Jonathan sacked nine
ministers
yesterday – in a
shocking move that
sparked
questions on the
motive of the action.
Five factors accounted
for the ministers’
sack, The
Nation learnt.
According to highly-
placed sources in
government,
some of the reasons
are: non-
performance;
security
reports on alleged
corruption; political
allegiance
and doubtful loyalty
to the President;
poor
management of
turn-key projects;
and the crisis in
the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party
(PDP).
A source, who pleaded
not to be named
because of
the “sensitivity” of
the matter, said: “You
will recall
that the President
asked the ministers to
sign a
performance bond.
About four of the nine
ministers
failed to live up to
expectations in the
assessment
of the Presidency. “In
fact, three of the
ministers were yet to
understand their
mandate after being in
office for
two and a half years.
One of the ministers
had more
than 20 agencies
under him but his
performance
was poor.
“We cannot also rule
out alleged corruption
acts by two to three
of the ministers. For
instance, there is a
particular outgoing
minister who forced
the
parastatals under the
ministry to buy a
N17million
Sports Utility Vehicle
SUV for personal use.
“The money-spinning
parastatals were
unhappy
but they had to do it.
It also got to a
ridiculous extent that
the minister was
always asking for
remittance of interest
accruable from funds
kept in
some banks by
parastatals under the
ministry.
“Another minister had
problems with award
of
contracts, some of
which were rated as
inferior. The
agencies supervised
by the minister made
a joint demand for
change.
“Ironically, the
minister lost a plum
cabinet position
at a time a platform
was created in a state
to fight
political adversaries of
Jonathan. The minister
was
dazed when the
President announced
the sack.”
According to a source,
there was also the
alleged tardiness in
the award of the
$1.3billion
(N212billion) Zungeru
Hydro Project.
The Federal
Government is
expected to spend
about N303million in
generating one
megawatt of
electricity. The hydro
project is said to be
one of the
most expensive in the
world. “Although no
corruption infraction
was found
against Hajiya Zainab
Kuchi, she was
sacrificed for
not being vigilant,” the
source claimed.
It was also learnt that
the alleged
overstaying in the
cabinet by the former
Minister of National
Planning,
Dr. Shamsuddeen
Usman, may have led
to his exit. Another
source said: “I think
Shamsudeen has
been in the cabinet
since 2007. Though he
did well
in designing the
Performance
Benchmark for the
Federal Executive
Council(FEC), the
nation’s
planning system has
not improved.
“An egg-head, who is
a former Deputy
Governor of Central
Bank of Nigeria(CBN),
he may have lost his
post because of
difficulty in measuring
his
achievements which
appeared to be long
term. And
you know, politicians
have no patience for
long
term gains.”
As at press time,
political motives were
being read into the
sack of some of the
ministers but a source
in the Presidency
disputed these.
Some ministers were
reportedly sent
packing
because of the
rebellion of the G-7
governors in the
PDP.
“People alluded to this
factor because some
of the Ministers were
nominated by their
governors. Such
Ministers are Prof.
Ruqayyatu Rufai
(nominated by
Governor Sule Lamido);
Zainab Kuchi(by
Governor
Babangida Aliyu of
Niger State);
Alhaji Bukar Tijjani
(from Borno now being
controlled by APC
without being unable
to mobilise PDP to
launch counter-
attack),” said the
source, adding:
“For Shamsudeen,
who was not
nominated by
Governor Rabiu
Kwankwaso, his
alleged cold war
with the Kano State
Governor led to the
factionalisation of PDP
in his state.
He became a political
risk for Jonathan to
retain him in the
cabinet. “But, contrary
to political
permutations, some
ministers from the
rebellious states, like
Adamawa ,
Rivers and Kwara, are
in the cabinet because
of
performance without
anyone touching
them.”
Ms Amal Pepple, who
is from Rivers State, is
believed to have lost
her job for being
unable to
read the President’s
mood on the crisis in
the state.