Nigeria’s President dissolves Cabinet

NIGERIA: Nigerian Acting President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday dissolved the cabinet a little over a month after taking power, asserting his authority over the government in Africa’s most populous nation.

No explanation was given for the move and a new cabinet had not been named by Jonathan, who took over last month after parliament voted to force ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua to step aside until he is well enough to return.

The decision comes at a tense time for one of Africa’s top oil producers, following Muslim-Christian violence in the country’s north and renewed unrest in the oil-rich Niger Delta in the south.

“Today, the acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, dissolved the Federal Executive Council (cabinet),” Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

“He did not give us any reason, and so, I cannot give any reason,” she said in a terse statement.

Observers said the move would allow Jonathan to appoint his own team rather than rely on Yar’Adua allies, giving him a stronger hold on power.

The cabinet had been seen as divided between his and Yar’Adua’s supporters, and the dissolution also follows the electoral agency’s announcement Tuesday that presidential and general elections are to take place early next year.

“By this action, he wants to consolidate his position in power and govern more effectively. The man really wants to assert himself in power,” Bayo Onanuga, an analyst and editor-in-chief of The News magazine, told AFP.

Yar’Adua had spent more than three months being treated in Saudi Arabia without handing over power to Jonathan, his deputy, creating fears of a political vacuum.

Jonathan took office as acting head of state on February 9 after parliament voted to force ailing Yar’Adua to hand over.

The following day, Jonathan carried out a minor cabinet reshuffle, moving the outspoken and controversial Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa to the obscure Special Duties portfolio.

Jonathan, 53, had earlier this month also sacked the powerful national security adviser, Major General Sarki Mukhtar, and replaced him with Lieutenant General Aliyu Gusau, who had held the position before. Abuja, Thursday, AFP