The forced resignation of Power Minister, Professor Barth Nnaji has put President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan under pressure to fill two key Ministerial positions in his cabinet if he is to deliver on two main issues staring his government on the face of poor power supply and crippling insecurity.
In June Jonathan fired his Defence Minister, Dr. Haliru Mohammed Bello, 66, from Kebbi State in Nigeria’s troubled north and has so far been unable to name a replacement.
The shocking and unexpected resignation of Nnaji, a key ally in his quest to provide stable electricity for businesses and families in Africa’s most populous state may force Jonathan to announce an immediate replacement in order not to jeopardize his ambitious and holistic approach to solving Nigeria’s embarrassing power problem.
Though President Goodluck Jonathan has admitted that he is slow when it comes to taking decisions, however, the realization that two key Ministries are presently without substantive Ministers may surely spur him to announce replacements from or outside his present cabinet.
Nnaji, a renowned engineer with a solid background in Robotic, Industrial and Systems Engineering represented Enugu State in the Federal cabinet and was a member of the National Council on Privatization by virtue of his portfolio as Minister of Power until he was forced out of office by Jonathan over a brewing scandal in the slated privatization of Afam generation Company in Rivers State and Enugu Distribution Company (Enugu DISCO), where it was discovered that two companies linked to him had had their technical and financial tenders for the two power companies approved without full disclosure by him. The discovery last Friday forced the NCP to retreat and cancel the evaluation exercise for the companies.
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