Dogged by challenges capable of denying him re- election in 2015, President Goodluck Jonathan has taken the battle to the doorsteps of his known and perceived political opponents, using the carrot and stick approach. Last Wednesday morning, he shocked members of the Federal Executive Council when he fired nine ministers, who are believed to be irrelevant to his second term bid and are more loyal to their governors. Will the ouster of the ministers remove the mounting roadblocks to his re-election?
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There seems to be more questions than answers.
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The sack of nine ministers was something that had long been predicted. The announcement in the middle of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday, did not take many by surprise.
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What, however, bothered the Exco members and. many Nigerians was the way it was carried out by President Goodluck Jonathan.
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For real, those who had really been pencilled down for offloading by the President were those who were known to be nursing gubernatorial ambition and had been somewhat distracted from office by their political fixation. In that category were Bala Muhammed, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, who is reported to be eying the seat currently occupied by Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; the Minister of State for Education, Nyesome Wike, from Rivers State; Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, from Nasarawa; and the Minister of Police Affairs, Capt Olubolade Caleb, from Ondo..
Whatever they do or say, Nigerians still have the final is INEC is as honest as they claim to be!
I believe so.