Nigeria: Why Jonathan Fired Power Minister, Barth Nnaji

President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, ordered power minister Prof Barth Nnaji, to resign following an alleged involvement of two companies linked to him in the ongoing privatisation exercise in the power sector. LEADERSHIP gathered that the president might have been embarrassed by media reports that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had to cancel the technical bid evaluation process conducted for Afam Generation Company Limited and Enugu Distribution Company Limited because of the minister's perceived personal interest and suspicion of lack of integrity.

The president's decision to sacrifice Nnaji might not be unconnected with the fact that he considered  the ministry too sensitive to the transformation agenda and could not tolerate any rumour of unethical behavior. A statement by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, noted that Nnaji tendered his resignation letter, which Jonathan accepted with thank continued