Goodluck Jonathan as he takes office in February Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Acting leader unveils cabinet nominations
Published: 31 March, 2010
Goodluck Jonathan’s unseating of the entire Nigerian cabinet raised some eyebrows, but appears to have been driven by a desire to address the considerable challenges the country faces rather than to enable him to run for office in 2011
Nigeria’s acting president Goodluck Jonathan is awaiting senate approval for his list of future ministers following his decision to unseat the entire cabinet on March 17. Mr Jonathan took the reins of government in February, filling a political vacuum left by the incapacitation of Umaru Yar’Adua, the serving president. Mr Yar’Adua, whose health had long been in question, left the country for heart surgery in Saudi Arabia in November 2009, without formally handing over to his deputy.
Mr Yar’Adua has since returned to Nigeria but remains too ill to lead the country. Mr Jonathan was finally given a mandate to rule by the National Assembly in February and although there remain some challenges to his legitimacy and rumblings of discontent from the Yar’Adua camp he has enjoyed a surprising amount of support and, analysts say, has been skilful in managing the interests of the Northern elites in Abuja.
At the time of writing an official list of nominees had been passed to the senate, but details of who would fill key positions had not been released. The list includes Odein Ajumogobia, the junior oil minister who has been linked with a more senior position under Mr Jonathan; and Mutallab Yar’Adua, the ailing president’s nephew. Outsiders, including Goldman Sachs banker Olusegun Aganga, have also been nominated for cabinet posts.
A Southerner, Mr Jonathan is essentially barred from standing in the next general election in 2011, due to an informal agreement within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party dictating that the leadership of the party alternates between north and south – each takes the helm for two terms. Mr Yar’Adua is a Northerner and is less than one term into his rule. The Northern wing of the PDP expects to provide the leader for 2011, who, on balance of probabilities, will become president.
Even so, the decision to purge the cabinet that he had inherited from Mr Yar’Adua prompted some questions over Mr Jonathan’s motives, with some analysts instantly suggesting that he was manoeuvring himself into a position to run. This appears unlikely. The consensus amongst most observers now is that the acting president simply had to take a firmer grip on his government, given the building series of challenges that he has faced since taking office. A resumption of attacks in the Niger Delta and a resurgence of sectarian violence in the fractious Middle Belt which has killed upwards of 500 people this year have tested his leadership. Vital reforms in the banking and oil sectors, as well as electoral reforms, have stalled.
“What we saw with the dissolution of the cabinet was an attempt to build a new high-level political base around the acting president on which he would then be able to pursue his policy agenda, his reform agenda, and his own aspirations politically,” explains Rolake Akinola, an analyst at Control Risks. “I think it was inevitable that he would have to take some steps to demonstrate that he was in control, at least in order to allay investor concern... He’s largely accepted that he’s going to run the country until the elections in 2011 and he needs to be seen to assert his authority.”
