A 2008 report by The Nation newspaper says that Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu was sacked in 2008 for fraud by the Ebonyi State government.
Dr. Chukwu was at the time the Chief Medical Director of the state University Teaching Hospital, and the newspaper said the money, N36 million, was padded into the accumulated allowances and arrears to be paid to resident doctors when the government demanded for vouchers to be prepared for the payment to be made.
“Sources revealed that there was additional N36 million Naira to the total sum of N200 million, which was the actual amount that was supposed to be the accumulated wage bill causing the state government to suspect that the hospital management did not provide the actual figure for the payment of the allowances and arrears,” the report said.
Chukwu was immediately replaced on the post by Dr. Ekuma Aja, a renowned consultant surgeon and retired Rear Admiral of the Nigeria Navy.
The Nation said it was informed by hospital sources that Dr. Aja faced many difficulties upon assumption of duty arising from “a lot of needless actions” taken by his predecessor “in terms of victimization of some medical personnel on tribal grounds.”
President Jonathan has famously declared that stealing by government officials is not the same as corruption, and he normally ignores corruption reports involving federal officials.