Buhari's 'Powerful Allies' To Be Investigated As President May Drop 10 Ministers

President Muhammadu Buhari

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into corruption allegations against top officials in his government. 

BBC Africa Live report continues:

The probe is expected to focus on Ibrahim Magu, the acting head of the anti-corruption agency and Babachir Lawal, the government secretary who is part of his "kitchen cabinet", or inner circle, local media reports. 

Mr Magu is alleged to have accepted a house from a retired air force general - a charge he has strongly denied.  

As for Mr Lawal, he was accused last week, in a report by the Senate, of diverting about US$800,000 of government money meant for rebuilding areas battered by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east of the country

He too, has strongly denied the allegations. 

In a brief statement, Mr Buhari's spokesman Garba Shehu did not name the two but said: 

The attention of the presidency has been drawn to a number of reports in the media, in which various accusations of corruption have been levelled against some top officials in the administration.

In that regard, President Buhari has instructed the Attorney General of the Federation to investigate the involvement of any top government officials accused of any wrong-doing.

If any of them are liable they will not escape prosecution."

Mr Buhari has earned a reputation of fighting corruption since he took office last year, but his critics have accused him of targeting only officials from the former administration of Goodluck Jonathan. 

 If confirmed, the investigation against the two will be extremely significant - especially Mr Lawal who is very close to Mr Buhari and is alleged to be among a handful of officials who wield enormous influence over his administration. 

He is thought to be among those whom First Lady Aisha Buhari was referring to when she told the BBC that Mr Buhari's government had been "hijacked" by "a few people".

Buhari To Drop 10 Ministers, Senate May Cut Holiday For Nominees

Meanwhile BusinessDay reports that indications emerged at the weekend that the Presidency has put the Senate on alert about the likelihood of fresh ministerial screening.

Sources in the National Assembly disclosed late Sunday that no fewer than 10 ministers may be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle very early in the year.

The Senate had last Thursday proceeded on its Christmas and New Year holiday to return January 10, 2017.

It was gathered that the Presidency has informed the Senate leadership to secure prompt and less rancorous screening process.

Already, two vacancies exist in the Ministerial portfolio, following the death of James Ocholi, the late Minister of State for Labour and Productivity in March this year and the exit last week of the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed.

The Environment Minister had exited the cabinet to take up the post of Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations(UN).

Sources close to the Presidency and the National Assembly said on Sunday in Abuja that the Presidency was wary of a continuation of recent bashings from the Senate, a situation that has seen a number of nominees dropped during the confirmation process.

It was learnt that at least 10 Ministers would be dropped from the cabinet while others would be reshuffled.

“There is an understanding that in the New Year, one of the key assignments the Senate will undertake aside the consideration of the 2017 Budget is the screening of some ministerial nominees who will be replacing some of the Ministers who are soon to be asked to leave the cabinet,” a source said.

It was also said that the Ministers soon to leave the cabinet are to cut across the geopolitical zones, an indication that the new names soon to make their ways into the Senate will also come from the different zones.

A source said that some rubbing of minds between the Presidency and the Senate has taken place over the issue and that the two arms of government have pledged to work for the interest of the nation.

In recent weeks, some of the decisions of the Senate were said to have taken the Presidency by surprise, a situation that was said to have forced the Executive to lobby the upper legislative chamber.