The minister of special duties, Remi Babalola, has resigned his appointment from the federal cabinet, on health grounds.

Mr Babalola was recently redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties, following his outburst which claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) was bankrupt. A statement by the federal government immediately denied this through the Minister of Finance, Olusegun Agaga, 24 hours later.

Goodluck Jonathan, in response to Mr Babalola’s letter of resignation, wished him “full recovery and a speedy return to an active life”, a statement from the Special Adviser to the President read.

Mr Babalola has held sway in the Ministry of Finance since July 2007 when he was appointed by the late President, Umaru Yar’Adua. A banker until his appointment, Mr Babalola was an Executive Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, in charge of Lagos and West business, as well as consumer banking and electronic payments.

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Nice one about time Remi!

Hmm. . .this is a novelty in Naija. Hope there isn't more to this.

Very rare to see a Nigerian Minister resign, Kudos!

You were punished for saying the truth, good one you are leaving with your intergrity.

We are proud of you!

What took him this long?

@Naijaking when you believe in something you dont just back out.

Remi did a good job and has decided to resign thot you guys have been looking for people who can resign from political appointments well here you have another!

This man is a political matyr

he was frustrated out of Government for saying the truth.

mikeansy:

This man is a political matyr

he was frustrated out of Government for saying the truth.

For the very first time in its history, NNPC was made 100% auditable and the books showed a hell hole of ugliness. There were mind boggling gaps in the figures, which when reconciled, pointed at the obvious. . . The fact however, is that as much as we might deceive ourselves within Nigeria that yams and other fcknots make up 46% of our GDP, we cannot deceive oyibo. They know what money goes in and what money comes out; above all, they know that Nigeria makes 90% of her money from oil. They know that NNPC is Nigeria. If a junior minister is so loose lipped as to claim that the NNPC is broke to the tune of ground shaking amounts, what does that portend for the country?

There are huge problems to be fixed in the country and like any other country, these things can best be fixed with external investment and finance. For example, there are 3 new refineries already signed off for the whopping sum of $23billion (3.5 trillion Naira), part of which is external funding. . .
How do you keep a minister who does not understand that the packaging must be right to foreigners? Why should such a person remain a minister?

Lets not forget that his words caused a near Earthquake in Global financial circles as far as Nigeria was concerned and several high ranking enquiries were made. A minister is an ambassador, and an ambassador does not rubbish his country, there are others to clear up the mess (eg comitees and probes).

^^ save us the saw dust!!

Sanusi said much worse about the FINANCIAL SECTOR Jonathan inaudible wouldn't grow balls overnight

the same committee thats have been clearing up the mess for the past how many years


Kudos to Remi Baba; the Northerners will have this Johnnie boy by the throat when the time comes!

He should be rewarded for making Nigerian's stop and take a look at their books not frustrated. This is why so many join the looting bandwagon, cause Nigerians hate the truth.When more honest pple are rewarded things will change. If he didn't shout no one would have believed him or cared.Nigerians deserved the scare.Jonathan should do something for him. Instead of giving useless awards to looters nd movie stars.

The man did the right Thing by leaving the Govt.
Nigeria is in this mess because our Leaders detest the Truth and Clinch too much to Personal interest.

I'm sure Special Duties will be the joke among the Ministers, if the Jonathan wants to make you redundant straight to Special Duties

i have a lot of respect for RB, he chose not to go the normal route. . .he could have lied or shut up back then or he could even have stayed back on as minister of special duties. . .men like him are rare!

Why does Jonathan have an issue with people saying the truth abt the state of the economy?
Heard news of the Fed Gvt, tongue lashing Soludo for warning it over the state of health of the econmies.
It appears Jonathan does take too kindly to criticism. For a leader, this is simply unacceptable

so what exactly is the outcome of the much touted so called first ever audit of NNPC

gej - we will get to the bottom of this - i want the state of nnpc
babalola - nnpc is bankrupt
gej - thats not the response we are looking for - redeploy him
babalola - i'm not putting up with this fraud - ciao

Xavier.:

Why does Jonathan have an issue with people saying the truth abt the state of the economy?
Heard news of the Fed Gvt, tongue lashing Soludo for warning it over the state of health of the econmies.
It appears Jonathan does take too kindly to criticism. For a leader, this is simply unacceptable

i think that makes him look like a weak person. . .

From all burners, it keep appearing that GEJ is not the kind of president Nigeria needs. I have been looking for charisma, strategy, capacity to prioritize, urbane and a leader that can steer the country in a new direction but GEJ does not just fit in there. Soludo was tongue lashed and Babalola was redeployed to Aandoakaa ministry. This guy(GEJ) have no records of taking big decisions and the little chances he has to prove himself, he is misusing them. Where exactly are we going with Jonathan in then next 4 yrs if he wins? If he gives RB the boot cos he articulated a view in his official capacity, can he then work with more analytical minds like Iweala and her ilks?