Jonathan sacks Agwai as SURE-P chairman

President Goodluck Jonathan has removed Martin Luther Agwai, a retired general and former chief of army staff, as chairman of the federal government’s Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

Reuben Abati, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, who made the announcement, did not explain the reasons for the sack.

He only said Agwai would be replaced by Ishaya Dare Akau “with immediate effect”.

“In furtherance of his efforts to continuously re-energise and reposition agencies of the federal government for optimal service delivery, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has appointed Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau as the new chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P),” he wrote in a statement.

“Mr. Akau, whose appointment takes immediate effect, replaces Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.) who served as Chairman of the SURE-P until today.”

The new SURE-P chairman hails from Jema’a local government area of Kaduna state and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law.

“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,” Abati said.

“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.”

Agwai’s sack comes six days after he delivered a lecture at the 78th birthday ceremony of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, titled ‘Imperatives of National Security: Framework for Development and Progress of Nigeria’.

At the lecture, which was not attended by officials of the federal government and the Peoples Democratic party (PDP), Agwai had said change in leadership had become inevitable in the country.

He observed that the military had found itself in a “strange terrain”, saying the military should avoid getting enmeshed in politics, else the country would suffer for it.

“The military has to be transformed and this becomes necessary from the point of recruitment, training and assuming leadership role. Our forces that are trained, equipped to defend us are now in a strange field.

“We must have security sector reform because everyone that has anything to do with security must be re-branded for professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness… The military has nothing to do with politics and if we allow it, we will run into problems.”

He maintained that the nation’s military needed to be strengthened to address all the security challenges plaguing the country. He also described Obasanjo as an inspiration to some generation of military officers, particularly those from minority ethnic groups.

“I, for one, from somewhere (small) ethnic group in Nigeria, from a small village, was chief of staff. I will always remain appreciative of this, happy birthday sir!”‎ he said.

The high-profile personalities who attended the lecture were governors and leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).