Olubolade, Oduah, Orubebe, Ngama
Less
than 48 hours after ordering his Chief of Staff, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe,
to resign, President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday sacked four
ministers from the Federal Executive Council.
The affected persons are the ministers
of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah; Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe;
Police Affairs, Navy Cpt. Caleb Olubolade; and the Minister of State
for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama.
All the ministers, except Oduah, attended the FEC meeting on Wednesday at which Jonathan announced their exit.
Oduah had been in the eye of the storm
since last year over the purchase of two bulletproof BMW cars for N255m
on her behalf by a parastatal under the ministry, the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority.
Apart from the amount spent on the cars,
which was found to be grossly above the market value, Nigerians also
queried the propriety of the purchase by a parastatal that was finding
it difficult to train key personnel responsible for aviation safety.
The House of Representatives, based on
the report of a committee it set up to investigate the matter, had asked
Jonathan to review Oduah’s appointment.
Following public outcry that greeted the
news of the car purchase, Jonathan had set up a three-man
administrative panel headed by a former Head of Service of the
Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello, to investigate the matter.
Although he had on November 24, 2013
publicly acknowledged receipt of the panel’s report, the President did
not disclose the content of the report nor take any decision based on
the report for many weeks.
Briefing State House correspondents on
the outcome of the weekly FEC meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of
Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the President informed the council
that he had asked the affected ministers to step out of his cabinet to
enable them to pursue other political and private interests.
He said, “Today, the President announced
further changes in the Federal Executive Council. He said a number of
ministers have been asked to step out of the council to further their
own interests; some in politics, others in their own private focus.
“Clearly, what the President did today
(Wednesday) was to allow the ministers who have indicated interest in
pursuing further goals in the polity, in the economy and in the life of
the country, to go.
“Those asked by the President to go
include the following: Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama;
Minister of Police Affairs, Navy-Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd.); Minister
of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe; and Minister of
Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah.”
Maku added, “In announcing the
acceptance of their decision to participate in the polity, the President
thanked them very sincerely for the great job they have done in helping
the government realise the goals that have been achieved under the
transformation agenda.
“The President believes that they have
done so well for this administration and is generally happy with what
they have done, particularly in their various sectors, to help the
administration realise the goals we have seen today in the results we
have arrived at under the transformation programme of the government.”
When asked to clarify if the ministers
resigned their appointments or were asked to step down, Maku said, “The
President said he had asked them to go because of their interests. They
have indicated interests in pursuing higher and deeper interests in the
polity; and so, he has decided to allow them to go and pursue those
interests. You have to get that correctly so that you won’t go and say
something like what was said in the case of the former Chief of Staff
(to the President).”
When further asked whether the
President, in sacking the ministers, made any reference to the report of
the committee he set up to probe Oduah or preferred to confine the
report to the dustbin of history, Maku paused for a few minutes before
saying, “I have just reported exactly what the President said. Also,
don’t forget that an allegation doesn’t necessarily mean guilt, and I
think the press should always take some time to be patient.
“But the truth of the matter is that
they left because they indicated interest in playing deeper roles in the
politics of the country and the President has decided to let them go.”
Pending when substantive ministers would
be named, Maku said the President had directed some members of his
cabinet to take over at the affected ministries in acting capacity.
Under the arrangement, the Minister of
State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, will be
supervising the Aviation ministry; the Minister of State, Federal
Capital Territory, Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide, will supervise the Police
Affairs ministry; the Minister of State, Niger Delta, Mr. Dairus Ishaku,
will assume control over the ministry; while the Minister of Finance,
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will take over Ngama’s duties.
Olubolade and Orubebe left the
Presidential Villa shortly after the FEC meeting before the news of
their removal filtered to journalists.
Ngama, on his part, declined granting
an interview to journalists covering the State House, insisting that he
would only talk to Hausa correspondents, whom he engaged in discussion
for several minutes before walking out of the Villa.
The last time Jonathan sacked ministers was on September 11, 2013 when he showed nine members of his cabinet the way out.
The ministers who were then affected
included that of Education, Prof Ruqayyatu Rufai; Science and
Technology, Prof. Ita Ewa; Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru;
Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia; National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen
Usman; and Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Ms. Amal Pepple.
Others were the ministers of State for
Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada; Agriculture, Alhaji Bukar Tijani; and
Power, Mrs. Zainab Kuchi.
Reacting to the sacking of Oduah, the
President, Aviation Roundtable, Capt. Dele Ore, said, “Whether it is
sacking or resignation is immaterial. The important thing is that she is
off the back of the ministry; and now, the Ministry of Aviation can
move forward. During her tenure, I would say the aviation industry was
moved 60 years backwards.
“On the issue of whether she should be
prosecuted or not, I can’t comment on that; I am only interested in
aviation safety and things to do with the industry.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Centurion
Security and Safety Consult, Group Captain John Ojikutu, said, “Well, I
think the resignation or removal is long overdue. Her cup was full.
“I think she has given some of us in
this industry the last laugh, which lent some credence to what we have
been saying since; forget all the talk about remodelling, that one was
just an ambience thing. I should have expected people to look beyond all
that. In my opinion, she messed up the entire aviation ministry.”
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