Kemi Adeosun
Although it just became public on Friday, it is already “a few
weeks” since President Muhammadu Buhari decided to let go of Kemi
Adeosun as Minister of Finance, SaharaReporters understands.
Two sources close to the government told SaharaReporters on Friday
that the UK-born Minister had resigned, but it has now emerged that it
was the President who indeed “told Adeosun to go”.
Also, the sack was deliberately made public today to manage public
backlash over the President’s decision to remove Matthew Seiyefa as
Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to make way
for Yusuf Magaji Bichi. Seiyefa hails from Bayelsa State while Bichi is
from Kano, prompting widespread condemnation about the concentration of
the country’s security apparatus in the hands of northerners.
There were calls for Adeosun’s sacking after an investigation by
Premium Times revealed that lawmakers had been blackmailing her into
releasing funds, running into billions of naira, because they were aware
she skipped the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme
and then forged an exemption certificate.
Seiyefa, however, was appointed DSS DG in acting capacity in August
after then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo sacked Lawal Daura for
ordering his men to lay siege to the National Assembly without receiving
clearance from the presidency.
“We had got the information since 7am that Buhari had already fired Adeosun,” the government source said.
“But seeing the backlash from the public on the appointment of
Bichi as DSS DG, which they had anticipated, they had to make Adeosun’s
exit public. I can assure you that Buhari already decided to remove
Adeosun before now; she was asked to resign some weeks ago — in August,
in fact. The certificate was forged; there is no way to hide it, so to
buy some credibility for the government, they just had to let her go.”
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