The frosty relationship between President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo recorded its first casualty on Tuesday, with the sudden sack of retired Lt. General Martin Lurther Agwai, chairman of the Federal Government’s Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Dr. Reuben Abati, named Ishaya Dare Akau, a former chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission, also from Kaduna State, as Agwai’s replacement.
Agwai, 66, a former Chief of Army Staff (2003-2006) and Chief of Defence Staff (2006-2008) was appointed substantive Chairman of SURE-P last year by Jonathan to replace Christopher Kolade who resigned the appointment barely one year ago in February 2014.
Although no reasons were given for his sack, the former Defence Chief is widely believed to have incurred the wrath of the Presidency when he spoke on the “Imperatives of a National Security: Framework for Development and Progress of Nigeria,” as part of activities marking Obasanjo’s 78th birthday and formal inauguration of Obasanjo National Library.
At the event held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, he lamented that the Military had found itself in a “strange” terrain, adding that the military should target an effective way to tackle the security challenges facing the nation.
Besides showing up at the event, which may be interpreted as taking sides with a perceived enemy of government, Agwai is said to have further committed another offence when he used the well-known slogan of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), when he said “change” has become inevitable at the lecture.
The APC has been using the slogan ‘change’ to campaign against Jonathan’s government.
Agwai was quoted as saying: “In life you find out that everything needs change. If that is what the community wants… what the people want… you must give it to them and as such, it becomes inevitable.
“You can have everything nice, but, if you don’t have the right leadership to propel it, it cannot go anywhere. Integrity matters, doing what is good for the larger society, and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself.”
The retired general urged Nigerian leaders and citizens to accept change and move with it to enable the country experience the desired growth and development, warning that should the military get involved in politics, the country may be doomed.
Tuesday’s sack was however preceded by a meeting of the Forum of Chairmen of SURE-P in the 36 states of the country and Abuja, where participants berated Agwai for urging his colleagues in the military to refrain from partisan politics at the Obasanjo lecture.
Addressing journalists in Benin City, Edo State, on Monday, on behalf of his colleagues,
Edo State SURE-P Chairman and Chairman of the forum, Lucky Imasuen, dissociated the group from Agwai’s statement.
Imasuen, a former Deputy Governor and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, berated the former Army Chief for speaking in such a manner at an event organised by a known sympathizer of the opposition’s cause, suggests that “he is a confused man”.
Imasuen was particularly angered that Gen. Agwai called for change at a forum dominated by APC chieftains, noting that the desired change has already been put in place across the country by President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The retired General’s comment is causing unnecessary panic in the country, knowing full well that the military is a stabilising factor in the nation’s polity.”
Continuing, Imasuen said Agwai ought to know “that soldiers are dying every day fighting insurgency. I know the Nigerian Military are having serious challenges dealing with insurgency but they are doing their best and winning the war. I expect those in uniform and out of uniform to be careful of what they say.
“As a former General, Agwai should use established channels of communication to pass his views and whatever advice he has across,” Imasuen advised.
The Presidency, obviously, did not wait for such, before the sack.
Although no officials reasons were given, Abati only said Akau’s appointment, was in furtherance of the President’s efforts to continuously re-energize and reposition agencies of the Federal Government for optimal service delivery, takes immediate effect.
“President Jonathan thanks the outgoing Chairman of SURE-P, Gen Agwai, for his service to the nation and wishes him well in his future endeavours,” Abati said.
The new SURE-P boss, he noted, hails from Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law.
“Mr. Akau comes to the job with years of experience as a high-level administrator in the nation’s public service. His record of service includes tenures as Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Education Board and Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission.”
The House of Representatives, last week in Abuja, reduced total expenditure for SURE-P in the 2015 Appropriation Bill now before the National Assembly, from N102.50 billion to N21.03 billion, due to the sharp drop in the price of crude oil.
General Agwai was commissioned into the Nigerian Army (NA) in 1972 and rose to the rank of four star general in 2006. In November 2002, he was at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as the Deputy Military Adviser, from where he was named Army chief in 2003.
In June 2007, he became the last Force Commander (FC) of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and the first FC of the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) from December 31, 2007 until August 30, 2009.