Jonathan May Restructure Cabinet This Week As S’ South Govs. Show Support

PHOTO: NIGERIAN ACTING PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN.

San Francisco Feb 28, (THEWILL) – Nigerian Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan may restructure the federal cabinet and complete the harmonization of the Presidency this week in a move a presidency source said would begin the process of declaring ailing Nigerian President Musa Yar’Adua incapacitated.

President Musa Yar’Adua who was purportedly flown in on Wednesday is presumably still in the mobile intensive care unit at the villa compound and has not been seen in public since November 23, 2009.

The casualties of the cabinet restructure would include Ministers who the Acting President perceive to have performed below par and mostly hardcore Yar’Adua loyalists who have used President Yar’Adua’s absence to pursue selfish interests thereby dividing the executive council of the federation into pro-Yar’Adua and pro-Jonathan camps.

FCT Minister, Adamu Aliero; Yar’Adua’s Economic Adviser, Tanimu Yakubu; and Nigeria’s former Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa may be affected by the exercise, according to the source.

Nigerian information Minister Professor Dora Akunyili in a weekend interview with Nigerian papers blamed Yar’Adua’s aides for the tension in the government and country.

"The cabal wants to continue with their usual statement of 'the President said and you must comply.'"

"They want to continue dishing out instructions even when the president did not say so. They sneaked him into this country in the night," Akunyili said.

Meanwhile Governors of the South-South states met in Benin City over the weekend and commended Jonathan for his leadership while urging him to remain steadfast and focused.

In a communiqué issued after the meeting they said, "We welcome President Yar’Adua back to the country and urge all citizens to pray for his speedy recovery and return to office."

"We also commend the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, for his leadership at this most difficult and challenging time, and urge him to remain steadfast and focused in steering the affairs of the state."

"We urge the Nigerian elite to avoid inflammatory and divisive statements and actions that potentially endanger the stability of the nation. The national unity of the country outweighs any personal, ethnic or regional interest," they warned.

The Governors who attended include Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Liyel Imoke (Cross River); Adam Oshiomhole (Edo); and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers). Bayelsa State was not represented at the meeting.