Jonathan may sack more ministers •As assessment team turns in fresh reports President Goodluck Jonathan is not done yet with the cabinet shake-up he began on Wednesday, as indications emerged on Friday he could name more ministers for replacement shortly. Saturday Tribune gathered that the assessment team, which x-rayed the sacked ministers’ performance, has already turned in another report, which will be used in relieving more ministers of their jobs. Sources close to the administration confirmed to the Saturday Tribune that the president is already studying the report and that a fresh list of ministers to be dropped may be completed soon. This came as more facts emerged that the nine ministers sacked on Wednesday were relieved of their duties after careful study of the situation on ground, and not for political reasons. They were said to have been sacked principally for low performance in translating the transformation agenda into reality in their different sectors, as well as for accountability issues. A clash between the former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, and a business mogul (names withheld) was said to have been one of the reasons he was dropped by the president. Apart from this, Usman was also deemed to have overstayed in government and needed fresh challenges. According to sources, Usman had accused the businessman of some wrongdoing during a programme at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, which led to altercations between the two. Government felt that the former minister did not handle the matter well. In the case of Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi, the former Minister of State for Power, the assessment team reports indicated that there was the need to put life into the privatisation process in the power sector, hence her exit from the government. The decision of former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Ita Okon Bassey Ewah, to set up political structures for the 2015 election while the president was yet to give the go-ahead was said to be the principal offence that sealed his fate. That was beside alleged petitions by civil servants that Ewah had been spending more time in Akwa-Ibom State than at his duty post. Former Minister of Environment, Hadiza mailafiya, was said to have been removed for inadequacy in closely monitoring the Great Green World Project, which is meant to provide a buffer for the environment in the northern states. A source said the president was displeased with the slow pace of the Great Green Project which is part of the Green Africa Project, given budgetary provisions and the Ecological Fund. Her handling of climate issues across the country was also said not to have impressed the president.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 11:29:35 +0000