Facts emerged yesterday why majority of the 20 ministers were relieved of their duties on Wednesday by President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Top presidency and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sources said yesterday that most of the ministers would have been sacked before now but for the fact that President Yar’Adua wanted to give them the opportunity to prove their worth.
“Most of them really disappointed the president,” one of the sources said, adding that the “president had no choice other than to sack them to be able to move his programme of action forward,” the source said.
A presidency source who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that “if the president had refused to change them, Nigerians and the international community would have lost faith in this government. They did not help the president really drive the economy the way he wants it to move and this was very dangerous for him.”
Citing the case of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) ministers, the source said ministers from the party were sacked because “the party leadership requested them sacked. The in-fighting contributed seriously to the dismissal of the former ministers. The problem of greed was very evident. Some of the top ANPP chieftains wanted to have their own share of the national cake.”
“For the eloquent speaking Sanusi Daggash, he is perceived as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s loyalist and the hawks in government are not comfortable with him. They felt he was one of those heavily imposed on Yar’Adua by the former president in 2007.”
For Halima Alao, the Kwara born-architect turned politician has been in the corridors of powers for a long time.
“She has served three times as a minister and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership in Kwara felt it is time to give another person the opportunity to serve. It is not that she performed poorly or otherwise, she was removed to give another person the opportunity to serve too.”