President Muhammadu Buhari has a close relationship with Dave Umahi, the governor of Ebonyi state, but whether the president will listen to his advice not to sack the four Service Chiefs, who have been under trenchant criticisms from Nigerians over the worsening state of insecurity in the country, is another ball game entirely.
Feelers from Aso Villa, Abuja, indicate that the President is mauling a major shakeup of his cabinet and the military to “invigorate the government for performance” a Presidency source told the magazine on Saturday.
Other sources say the cabinet reshuffle will affect many ministers, as some of them will lose their portfolios, while some will still be allowed to remain in their current positions.
Those that have been mentioned in the changes that President Buhari will announce anytime from now, the sources said, are ministers who are either controversial and have been mentioned in corruption scandals lately.
“President Buhari is not happy that some of his close ministers have been fingered in alleged corruption and his close aides have advised him to do something for the sake of credibility of his government,” a source said.
Some ministers that have been mentioned in graft allegations include, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN; Chris Ngige, Labour and Productivity, Godswill Akpabio, Niger Delta Ministry.
But “The president will decide the fate of the ministers and since these are just mere allegations, the said ministers remained innocent until proven guilty. There are many reasons for the president to consider on the imminent cabinet reshuffle not necessarily the corruption allegation against the ministers. Whatever President Buhari is going to do will not be based on emotion,” the source said.
If President Buhari went ahead with the planned changes in his government, it will be the first time since he was re-elected last year.
Recall that Governor Umahi had dismissed the call for the removal of security chiefs, insisting that doing so will worsening insecurity in the country.
Umahi had urged Nigerians to assist the military chiefs by providing them with reliable intelligence to track down criminals.
Umahi said “It is difficult for people to do anything without information and at this stage of our security situation, whosoever that is coming to replace them will start ‘learning the ropes,” he said.
This is not what we need at this crucial time of our security challenges as every decision taken by the present service chiefs are not taken by them alone, but with other senior officers.”
The Ebonyi helmsman’s comment came on the crest of attack on the Governor of Borno state, Professor Zulum in Baga by suspected Boko Haram insurgents two weeks ago.
But the Borno Governor has accused the military of orchestrating the attack on his convoy, thus raising credibility on the fight against insurgency by the military, and more pressure on President Buhari to replace the four Military Chiefs: Chief of Defense Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin, Chief of Army Stafff, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, and Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar.
Major General Babagana Mungonu (rtd.), the National Security Adviser, NSA had while briefing journalists after a meeting President Buhari had with the service chiefs, stated that the president was not happy with the spate of killings by Boko Haram and armed bandits in some parts of the North.
The president warned his commanders to sit up.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
