Daily Independent (Lagos)
Chesa Chesa
30 October 2008
Abuja — Twenty Ministers were sacked by President Umaru Yar'Adua on Wednesday night to "reposition and strengthen" his administration to effectively cater for Nigerians, after months of speculation about the exercise that nearly crippled government business.
Those who lost their jobs are Aliyu Modibbo Umar (Federal Capital Territory, FCT); John James Akpanudoedehe (Minister of State, FCT); Abdulrahman Hassan Gimba (Sports); Mohammed Daggash (National Planning); Halima Tayo Alao (Environment); Charles Ugwu (Commerce and Industry); Ahmed Garba Bichi (Minister of State, Commerce and Industry); Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu (Education); Jerry Anthony Agada (Minister of State for Education).
Felix Hyatt (Aviation); Sarafa Tunji Isola (Mines and Steel Development); Ahmed Gusau (Minister of State, Mines and Steel); Adamu Maina Waziri (Minister of State, Agriculture and Water Resources); Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande (Minister of State, Information); John Okechukwu Emeka (Minister of State, Transport).
Fatima Balaraba Ibrahim (Minister of State, Energy (Power); Emmanuel Olatunde Odusina (Minister of State, Energy (Gas); Tijani Yahaya Kaura (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs); Haruna Hassan (Minister of State, Interior), and Saudatu Usman Bungudu (Women Affairs).
A statement issued by Presidential Spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, said Yar'Adua thanked them for their services and wished them well in their future endeavours.
Yar'Adua directed surviving Ministers to take charge of the portfolios vacated pending the clearance of new Ministers by the Senate.
Remi Babalola (Minister of State, Finance) now supervises the FCT, Demola Seriki (Minister of State, Agriculture and Water Resources) oversees the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development. Aliyu Idi Hong (Minister of State, Culture and Tourism) adds the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to his task.
Alhassan Bako Zaku (Minister of State, Science and Technology) supervises the National Sports Commission, Godsday Orubebe (Minister, Special Duties) becomes the Minister and Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC).
Grace Ekpiwhre (Minister, Science and Technology) takes charge of Women Affairs.
At the time of going to press, Senate President, David Mark, was at Aso Rock to confer with Yar'Adua. A top government official told Daily Independent that the meeting had to do with the new ministerial list which the president is expected to present today.
An unusual photograph session he initially had with all his Ministers was the first indication of what was in the offing.
Some were overheard expressing relief that the suspense was over, confirming that the delay in the reshuffle had affected the pace of work in the Ministries.
Later, the outgone Ministers participated in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which approved contracts worth N8.6 billion for the power, education and health sectors; details of which were unfolded to journalists by the Information and Communication Minister, John Odey.
Twenty units of 330KV, 150 units of 132KV, and 200 units of 33KV SF6 gas circuit breakers were approved for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for its transmission stores in Ojo, Lagos at a cost of N1.19 billion.
The items are to be bought directly from the manufacturers.
"The PHCN needs to procure some of the circuit breakers as spares for unforeseen situations. Moreover, most of the breakers in the system are very old and obsolete, and have been in service for over 25 years.
"It is imperative that these parts are gradually replaced in order to reduce outage times and ensure system stability with improved power supply," Odey said.
The FEC also approved the award of a contract to supply a Mercedes Benz fire truck, costing N94.5 million, to be used at Egbin power station in Lagos.
Also for the Egbin station was approved the award of a contract for extra works and other repairs at a cost of $10.32 million.
A contract at the Hussaini Adamu Federal Polytechnic, Kazaure, Jigawa State costing N75.75 million was equally approved by the FEC.
It voted N394 million to build a laboratory and warehouse in Port Harcourt, for the use of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDA).
Access road and infrastructure are to be provided for the CHOGM arts and craft market in Abuja at a cost of N67.79 million.
A contract was approved for N3.9 billion worth of anti-retroviral drugs "as part of government's effort to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS infection and mitigate the effect on those already infected with the disease."
Free treatment with anti-retroviral drugs was introduced in 2001 by the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo which scaled up the programme to cover 250,000 infected people by June 2006.
Odey explained that "in continuation of the scale up programme, it is anticipated that a population of 600,000 infected people will be reached during the period 2008-2009.
"The present coverage is put at about 300,000 and there are about 262 treatment centres nationwide. Of this number, 48 centres are Federal Government owned, 214 belong to the state governments and non-government organisations."
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Good work so far, can't wait to see those potholed roads repaired and some lights on.
Good move Mr. president. Now the really work start. Please appoint patriotic Nigerians not parasites as usual.