President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan today accepted the resignation of former Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan today accepted the resignation of former Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola.
Prior to his resignation, Mr. Babalola had been moved to Ministry of Special Duties, a post widely regarded as the Siberia of the federal cabinet.
In a statement, Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ima Niboro, said that Mr. Babalola’s resignation was on health grounds. But an impeccable source close to the former minister told Saharareporters that Babalola had no known health condition that could hamper his performance as a minister.
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Babalola provoked a big controversy when he made the startling claim that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was broke.
A presidency source told Saharareporters that Babalola’s unceremonious exit from the cabinet is a fall-out of political intrigues within the ruling party. The source said that Ibadan-based political thug, Abdul Azeez Arisekola-Alao, had nominated Babalola for inclusion on Jonathan’s cabinet. “Once President Jonathan discovered that Arisekola was backing former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, Jonathan decided to demote Babalola to ‘Special Duties.’”
A source close to the former minister disclosed that Babalola felt slighted by his demotion and applied to proceed on official leave. “He confided in me and some other close friends that he would resign as a minister once he finished his leave,” the source added.
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