Cabinet shake-up: Aondoakaa tops list - Three others to go, three to swap offices

Lanre Adewole, Abuja - 02.03.2008

There are strong indications that the reported imminent change in the executive cabinet of President Umaru Yar’Adua will see the controversial Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa( SAN) saying goodbye to his job. The cabinet shake-up may also not come until the national convention of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) slated for March 8, provided it is not temporarily halted by an Abuja High Court which is looking into a suit seeking to stop it.

The court presided over by Justice Isaq Bello will rule on the request for stoppage of the contentious convention on March 4. The Justice minister has been unarguably the most controversial in Yar’Adua’s cabinet and a top government source revealed to the Sunday Tribune that he topped the list of those wanted out of the cabinet by the power centres in Yar’Adua’s administration.

The president and his kitchen cabinet were reportedly waiting for some form of legitimacy, which he got through the judicial endorsement of his election last Tuesday, before moving to strengthen his team, reportedly with an aim to get cracking with his reforms devoid of any unnecessary distraction.

The president is said to have been unhappy with the alleged negative reactions generated by the conducts and utterances of the minister as it affects the administration’s anti-corruption crusade, a battle the source said the president was not treating with kid’s gloves.

Already, two Senior Advocates from the South, currently serving on the cabinet have been tipped to replace the minister. Another minister who may be affected in the expected shake-up is a female politician from the North-Central, who also served in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sunday Tribune gathered that if she is eventually dropped, she would be a mere victim of power play between two gladiators in her state. Her replacement, according to Sunday Tribune source, has been tentatively scheduled to be one of the aspirants for a top-most position in the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who may be asked to step down for a more favoured aspirant from a state in the North-Central with violent political climate.

It was also gathered that three fresh faces with very strong relationship with the president, are coming on board. Though the Sunday Tribune could not confirm, it was understood that their names might have been sent to security agencies for security checks on their background, preparatory to the forwarding of their names to the Senate for screening and confirmation.

Another three ministers, according to Sunday Tribune source, are also scheduled to swap positions, with two of them coming from the North and one from the South East. The bottom-line of the reported proposed shake-up, according to the source, was for the president to have a core-team he could call his own, which would also share his dreams and aspirations for the country.