President Jonathan Sacks 9 Ministers.

 

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday sacked nine members of his cabinet in what looked like one of his immediate reactions to the crisis threatening the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, though there was no official reason for the rejig as at the time of writing this story.

Five of the ministers who were sacked on Wednesday are from states whose governors were involved in the setting up of a parallel Peoples Democratic Party now being led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje on 31 August.

The other four are from states where the loyalty of the local chapter to the faction of the PDP at the national level led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur is doubtful.

Indeed, factions of PDP loyal to the Baraje faction have been announced in the states where the other ministers hailed from.

Affected in the cabinet purge are Professor Ruqayat Rufai, the Minister of Education, who was nominated into the cabinet by Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, while Zainab Kunchi, Minister of State  for Power was nominated by Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State.

Also sacked by President Jonathan is Buka Tijani, the Minister of State for Agriculture, from Borno, a state presently under a governor elected on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, which recently fused into All Progressives Congress, APC.

Shamsudeen Usman, the Minister of National Planning, who was also sacked, was the longest serving minister in the cabinet.

He is from Kano State. Governor Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State is among the seven rebel members of the ruling party presently in the parallel PDP.

Also sacked from the cabinet was Hadiza Mailafia, the Minister of State for Environment, who  is from Kaduna State; Ita Okon, the Minister of Science and Technology from Akwa Ibom State;  Olugbenga Ashiru, the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Ogun State; and  Ama Pepple, the Minister of Lands and Housing from Rivers State.

Also affected in the sack is Erelu Olusola Obada, the Minister of State for Defence.

Sources indicated that the sack of the ministers will give President Jonathan the opportunity of filling the slots with politicians who will be more forceful in the campaign for his re-election ahead of 2015 presidential election.

Some loyalists and supporters of the President had advised him to sack ministers who are perceived to be not too enthusiastic in defending his policies and achievements from his cabinet in the past few weeks.


Source: PM NEWS