Goodluck May Sack More Ministers

Strong indications emerged yesterday that a few ministers may still be dropped from the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Presidency sources told The Nation yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan was still evaluating the performance of ministers and would certainly ask those who are deemed to be performing below standard to go.

The highly placed source said contrary to the popular belief that Wednesday’s shake-up was informed by the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the mid-term report on the performance of ministers accounted for the reshuffling.

He said a few more ministers might be asked to go as “part of moves to retool the cabinet.”

The source, who gave a rare insights into the cabinet shake-up, said: “Performance played a key role in the dropping of most of the nine ministers on Wednesday. The President did not lay much emphasis on partisan consideration.

“Yes, there might be one or two whose loyalty is politically doubtful but Nigerians should appreciate that these ministers entered into a performance bond and the President decided to judge them by their targets. Do not forget, targets are measurable.

“For instance, the former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ewa Hensaw, is a personal or close friend of the President. But he went ahead to drop him. He did not allow their relationship to override his aim of injecting new blood into the cabinet.”

The source also added that some of the sacked ministers were aware that they had issues with their targets.

He said some also saw it coming because they have had time to raise the alarm to the President that their lines were being bugged by one of the security agencies.

The source said: “At a point, some ministers complained to the President on why their lines were being bugged by one of the security agencies.

“The President, who was transparent in handling the matter, asked a security chief if it was true that ministers were being monitored. The chief was quoted to have said: ‘Any minister who has nothing to hide should not fear.’

Responding to a question, the source said the performance appraisal “is ongoing, I am aware of this. More ministers, especially those perceived to be corrupt may go.

“None of the nine sacked ministers is ranked among cabinet members perceived to be highly corrupt who are still in office. We have some ministers living in houses worth more than N1.5 billion or engaging in ostentatious lifestyle. Do you think the President will turn a blind eye to reports on such ministers?

“Based on security reports, some ministers might still go.”