THERE is hardly any week that has gone by in recent times without the presidency showing that it has come under pressure over one report or the other.  Not too long ago, there was a publication which suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan might tinker with his cabinet and possibly drop Petroleum Minister, Mrs Deziani Allison-Maduekwe.  It turned out that there was, indeed, a minor cabinet change which saw the appointment of three new ministers, including Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, who is now the Minister of State for Education; Mrs Yabawa Lawan Wali, now Minister of State Finance and Mrs Salamatu Suleiman, who became Minister of State II Foreign Affairs.

It also saw Navy Captain Olubolade of the Ministry of Special Duties being moved to Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as Minister of State, while the then incumbent Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, was redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties as substantive minister. To the extent that there was a minor cabinet reshuffle, the report was correct.

However, to have suggested that Mrs Allison-Maduekwe was the prime target of the intended shake-up for one reason or the other was not only off the mark, but also hit the wrong nerve in the presidency. President Jonathan came out smoking, like he has never done during his short tenure as president, to chastise those behind the report and their intentions. He was furious over speculations about the future of a minister of an important portfolio such as the petroleum ministry which looks after the energy sector because of the possible negative connotations it might generate in the minds of those who do business with the country.

“If a minister is not to be removed and you continue to tell the world that the minister is to be removed, what you publish affects the ministry drastically, as people who have one thing or the other to do with that ministry will become careful. They would want to wait for the day the minister will be removed, which will not come. I assure you that if I am to redeploy a minister, you will not know until the announcement has been made,” the president blurted out.

He thought his political enemies, who, he said, had found a new weapon in the media to deliberately weaken their opponents, had planted the report as part of their evil design. Not long after that, it was reported that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Aliyu Gusau, had thrown in the towel. The spy chief was thought to be interested in running for the office of president in next year’s election and some believe that, at a point in time, he had to resign to pursue his ambition.

But in spite of the recent rise in activities leading up to the nomination of candidates for the election, there has been nothing to openly suggest that General Gusau still harbours that intention. The publication claimed, though, that he tendered his resignation letter a few months ago, but it was yet to be accepted by the president, who, it also said, was rattled by the  development and, therefore, hoped to persuade him to remain in office. But as at this week, General Gusau was still in his office in the presidency and was, indeed, present at a security meeting presided over by President Jonathan early in the week.

The presidency also believed that the report was the handiwork of its opponents and argued that if General Gusau were to resign, the statement would not only emanate from the presidency, but it would not just be one newspaper alone that would publish it. The presidency was to say later that “we don’t want to join issues with anyone over published falsehood. But it was not enough to unsettle the presidency as the authors claimed. The presidency is focused on touching lives within the short period available to it.”

Yet, after that, the presidency  found itself having to dispel rumours created by a wire report that President Jonathan may have dumped his intention to contest in the 2011 presidential election because of his purported desire not to offend any section of the country over the zoning principle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  The presidency’s reaction was that “information at our disposal indicates that this is a story sponsored by interested parties.”

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