Perhaps the most controversial of all the ministers ‘excused’ from the cabinet yesterday is Ms Stella Oduah. The Minister of Aviation, not a few will argue, scored some points with the remodeling of the airports. For a long time, the airports were eyesores. Even services that were supposed to make aviation good were lacking.
Her greatest undoing is the controversial purchase of bulletproof cars at over N200m. Though she denied such cars were bought and added that the cars bought were not for her, many had become incensed and the call for her exit from the cabinet assumed a life of its own. It finally ended yesterday.
Her colleague, the Ekiti-born Caleb Olubolade, hardly had any controversial moment in office as Minister of Police Affairs. How well he performed in the ministry will remain a subject of debate. What is clear is that the welfare of policemen, especially regarding where they live, did not improve much under him. Now, he is out to seek a greener political pasture in Ekiti State.
Also seeking such pasture is Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama, who was appointed Minister of State for Finance in 2011. He appeared unassuming but what was obvious to watchers of the ministry was that he had his work cut out for him, given that his performance would be judged in comparison to the performance of the immediate past Minister of State for Finance, Mr Remi Babalola.
He started well but midway into his stewardship, his desire to become governor of Yobe State, it was alleged, took precedence over his duties.
In October 2012, for daring to declare his ambition to rule Yobe State in 2015, Ngama, came under fire from angry youths who picketed the ministry under the aegis of Nigeria United for Transformation demanding that “Ngama Must Go.”
The protesting youths called for Ngama’s resignation on the grounds that “his ambition to become the governor of Yobe State in 2015 has stopped him from discharging his duties as a minister”.
Ngama described the protesters as a bunch of miscreants, who were protesting because they were jobless.
As the chairman of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Ngama had problems with commissioners of Finance on issues bothering on non-remittance of funds to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In April 2013, the 36 commissioners of finance and their accountant generals stormed out of the meeting of FAAC on the grounds that Ngama was always late to the meeting, thus forcing them to hold the meeting late at night and up till the time they stormed out, Ngama had not arrived.
It was rumoured that Ngama’s ambition to be governor of Yobe State on more than one occasion had forced the technical session (the gathering of the accountant-general of states, the accountants-general of the federation and some employees of the Federal Ministry of Finance) and the commissioners’ forum (the gathering of Finance commissioners, the Minister of State for Finance and revenue generating agencies), to hold on the same day. Ordinarily, the technical session is supposed to hold a day before.
The Chairman of the commissioners’ forum, Timothy Odaah, told reporters that they took the decision to walk out because of the attitude of the minister.
“All finance commissioners are unhappy with the development. The minister has breached the FAAC Act of 1992, which says that the technical session must hold a day before the commissioners’ forum; that is not happening,” he said.
The spokesman for the minister’s office, Mallam Mohammed Nakoji, said the minister was absent at the meeting “due to other pressing engagements”.
Unlike Ngama, Godsday Orubebe came into the Goodluck Jonathan cabinet as a controversial figure. At the time he was cleared for ministerial appointment, he was in court against the Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). And this explained why he was not sworn-in alongside other ministers then. He was already seated at the council chamber for the inauguration before he was asked to go and resolve his issue with the state government first.
He was later inaugurated after mending fence with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. He was appointed minister of Special Duty and later moved to the Ministry of Niger Delta as Minister of State. He later became the substantive minister in the ministry in 2010 after a major cabinet reshuffle.
Orubebe struck a bond with Jonathan and his loyalty was not in doubt. In fact, he was regarded as one of the most trusted foot soldiers. He ran errands for Jonathan during the 2011 presidential election. Orubebe was also an active member of the neighbour-to-neighbour, one of the major groups that worked for Jonathan’s election.
Besides, he was a well known member of Jonathan’s kitchen cabinet and shared the same political godfather with the president in the person of Chief Edwin Clark, until recently. His political interest is believed to be the cause of the rift between him and Clark, who is strongly against his ambition. What followed was mudslinging between political father and son.
His exclusion from the cabinet might not be unconnected with his political ambition. It is not a secret that Orubebe wants to rule Delta State in 2015.
As a minister, Orubebe did not perform poorly. He had been able to tackle major issues in the oil-rich region. Under his watch as the minister of Niger Delta, the East-West road which was abandoned as a result of insecurity has resumed and work is in advanced stage. There is also the skills acquisition projects scattered across the nine Niger Delta states. The projects, which are due for completion this quarter, he had argued, were part of the empowerment projects for the youths within the area.