Ministers in desperate moves for Jonathan’s favour

Indications emerged on Saturday that ministers, special advisers and other top political appointees in the Presidency have intensified moves to get into the good books of Acting President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan following concerns that he would make good his earlier threat to remove officials who engaged in acts of mischief to advance their personal aggrandizement.

Their worry, our correspondent gathered, was based on the fact that the Acting President is aware of the roles they played in the wake of the constitutional crisis that arose following the prolonged absence of ailing President Umaru Yar‘Adua. Yar’Adua has been hospitalised at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for 82 days now.

It was gathered that the hitherto subtle lobby for Jonathan‘s goodwill has heightened since he redeployed the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa, to the less visible Ministry of Special Duties.

Also, the ministers and other top government functionaries are worried at the unceasing calls from many quarters on Jonathan to dissolve the cabinet if he must make any meaningful progress in discharging the affairs of the government in the absence of President Umaru Yar‘Adua.

The Action Congress, as well as a frontline Niger Delta nationalist, Chief Edwin Clark, had advised Jonathan to drop the ministers, particularly those seen to be underperforming.

These calls, as well as current regrets over their previous attitude to Jonathan when Yar‘Adua was around, have combined to make the ministers feel insecure in their positions.

Some of the ministers had engaged in a series of actions that undermined Jonathan‘s authority in the early days of Yar‘Adua‘s trip to Saudi Arabia, and the situation had degenerated to a point where the then Vice-President had to call them to order.

Jonathan had on January 16, warned that ministers and other heads of the ministries, departments and agencies who went about causing acrimony in the polity risked losing their jobs.

In a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Ima Niboro, Jonathan had warned against ”efforts by some well placed individuals, within and outside the administration” to take advantage of the President‘s absence to cause mischief.

A reliable source in the vice-president‘s office, who craved anonymity told our correspondent that, following Aondoakaa‘s redeployment on Wednesday, ministers and other top government officials ”are no longer sure of their positions in the government and as a result have intensified efforts to seek the favours of the Acting President”.

Currently, they are channeling their efforts to ingratiate themselves with Jonathan through his aides.

Findings by our correspondent reveals that ministers and other top government officials intent on gaining the Acting President‘s confidence now court his aides, many of whom were not reckoned with in the power equation in the Presidential Villa.

Previously, the Vice-President‘s aides were relegated to the background in the scheme of things in the Villa, as the President‘s aides received all the attention from ministers and other visitors.

But the situation has changed dramatically, as ministers who now call at the Vice-President‘s Wing make out time to visit some of his aides in their respective offices.

It was also discovered that, apart from making overt efforts to ingratiate themselves with Jonathan‘s aides, another means being employed by the ministers seeking the Acting President‘s favours is constantly reporting at his office for even unsolicited consultations.

The source described the practice as ”eye service”.

Further indications that the Acting President would brook no nonsense from any top government functionaries emerged during the last FEC meeting, when members of staff of the Council Secretariat, who record proceedings, were excused from the Council Chambers, venue of the meeting, so that Jonathan and the council members could have an ”off the record session.”

The source informed our correspondent that, during the session, Jonathan did not mince words in making the ministers “understand who was actually in charge of the government.”

”He made it clear what is expected and not expected, of any one of them who intends to keep his or her job in the cabinet,” the source said.

The source added that some individual ministers were made to explain particular actions, or statements, ascribed to them during the course of the crisis over the supposed power vacuum in the Presidency.

However, our correspondent gathered that Jonathan has remained ”accessible” to the ministers and SAs ”as usual” since he effectively became Acting President.

Jonathan is said to be only concerned with how to move the country forward and not punishing anybody.”

The source explained that what happened to Aondoakaa was not ”punishment” but ”a development that became necessary due to some conflict of interests and predispositions.”

Meanwhile, it was also gathered that Jonathan has admonished his aides and other staff in the Vice-President‘s office to ”maintain a low profile” in the midst of excitement over his elevation to the position of Acting President.

A source who spoke to our correspondent on the development, said it was borne out of the need to ”maintain balance and harmony in the Presidency especially after the protracted power struggle that preceded his emergence as Acting President”.

The source noted that many individuals among Jonathan‘s aides, as well as officials in the Vice President‘s Wing, were disposed to see his elevation as their personal victory and as a result indulge in some forms of celebration.

This disposition, according to the source, was ”mostly due to the fact that they had always played second fiddle in the Presidential Villa”.

Also, Jonathan‘s aides knew that, with their principal now Acting President, they would automatically enjoy more advantages and opportunities, particularly those hitherto exclusively enjoyed by the presidential aides.

”It was as a result of the need to avoid a situation whereby the presidential aides would develop a sense of loss as a result of the prolonged absence of their boss that Jonathan gave an unwritten directive to his aides and staff to maintain a low profile and go about their duties as usual.

”It is very important to him that nobody among Yar‘Adua‘s staff gets any impression that his (Jonathan‘s) aides are celebrating, or even rejoicing over the opportunities that might come their way as a result of the President‘s ill-health.

”Jonathan himself is maintaining a low profile, of course it comes naturally to him, it has taken him this far and he would not have any of his aides causing unnecessary problems in the Presidential Villa”, the source said.
SOURCE: punchng.com