According to a reliable source, “The next defence minister will be announced soon after the consultation that is going on presently between the president and the former leaders.
I can confirm that notable names who have served this country in several capacities are being considered but the Presidency is also aware that the slot became vacant only because the minister from one of the northern states was dropped and it is only proper that the state or the zone be accommodated in the executive council.”
About two months after the Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed was sacked as the nation’s Minister of Defence, the Presidency may have relaxed the urgency in appointing another one until the consultation between President Goodluck Jonathan and two former leaders, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida is concluded.
Until now, the media have been awashed with several names as possible replacement for the former minister who was relieved of his post alongside the National Security Adviser, General Aziza.
While Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) was announced as Aziza’s replacement as NSA, the Presidency kept the public guessing on the likely successor of Mohammed.
Although President Jonathan would have wanted the new Defence Minister to be announced before the recent visit of the United States Secretary of States, Hilary Clinton, the consultation between the president and the former heads of state which has reached advanced stage, it was gathered, stalled the announcement.
A source told Saturday Mirror that Chief Obasanjo did not feel comfortable with President Jonathan surrounding himself with former loyalists of IBB as security aides and would prefer the Defence Minister coming from the South.
While Colonel Dasuki, a former ADC to IBB has since resumed as President Jonathan’s security adviser, the favoured candidacy of Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd), a former NSA and close associate of IBB has continued to elicit some concern in some
