President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President
Namadi Sambo and many ministers have
concluded plans to travel abroad shortly after
the May 29 inauguration of a new
government.
While Jonathan had said he would travel out
of the country for a much deserved rest after
the May 29 inauguration, Sambo is planning
to travel to London on May 31, two days
after the inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari
as Nigeria's new President.
It was learnt that the Minister of Finance, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had also concluded
plans to return to the US after the President
elect's inauguration. However, her Petroleum
Resources counterpart, Mrs.Diezani Allison-
Madueke, has already travelled out of the
country.
Though sources close to the minister said she
would return to the country to attend the last
Federal Executive Council meeting of
President Jonathan's administration, the
minister would leave the country after the
FEC meeting.
A senior Presidency official, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, however, told one
of our correspondents that the vice-president
was planning to rest in London.
According to him, Sambo will only rest for
about two weeks abroad before returning to
the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-
President on Media and Publicity, Umar Sani,
however, said the planned trip could not be
attributed to any fear of persecution by the
incoming government.
Sani said if Sambo was afraid of Buhari, he
would have left the country before the May
29 inauguration day.
He said, "There is nothing to fear. Vice-
President Namadi Sambo is not afraid of any
persecution or victimisation by the incoming
government. His planned trip has nothing to
do with fear. If he is afraid of anything, he
would have gone before May 29."
Like Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Health,
Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, also planned to travel
abroad, but he said he would leave for the
ongoing World Health Assembly in Geneva,
Switzerland.
He stressed that he would be back in the
country when the exercise is over.
When asked if the trip was to avoid Buhari's
manhunt for perceived corrupt public
officials, the minister said, "It is strange to
me and I have not heard anything like that."
But the Minister of Education, Mallam
Ibrahim Shekarau, said no amount of road
block could stop him from travelling to any
country of his choice.
Shekarau also dared the incoming
administration to proceed and mount a
checkpoint for him in the crusade against
corruption, adding that he had nothing to
hide.
His Special Assistant (Media and
Communications), Mr. Nnamdi Olebara, said,
"Shekarau has no skeleton in his cupboard; if
he is travelling, it is not because of any
arrest because he has nothing to fear.
"Anybody who knows Shekarau right from
ages knows that he has nothing to fear.
Asking of when he will travel is digging into
somebody's privacy. Let Buhari mount a
checkpoint if he knows that Shekarau has
committed any crime.
"If Shekarau is going to his mother's house,
he doesn't need any permission; if he is
going to Saudi (Arabia), he doesn't need
anybody's permission. He is not escaping to
anywhere because he has nothing to fear. He
is a committed patriot who has revolutionised
the education sector, brought sanity and a
lot of development."
The Minister of National Planning, Dr.
Abubakar Sulaiman, said there was nothing
wrong for members of Jonathan's cabinet to
travel abroad after the May 29 inauguration
of the new government to rest.
He said though he would be returning to the
classroom as a lecturer at the University of
Abuja, there was no reason for anybody to
think that any member of the current
administration that travels out after May 29
is afraid of probe.
In a telephone interview with one of our
correspondents in Ilorin on Friday, he
explained that it is normal for people to take
rest outside the country after strenuous
political and administrative engagements.
He also said none of them is afraid that the
incoming administration would jail them.
Sulaiman said, "I am not travelling out. I am
a lecturer. After May 29, I will resume work at
the University of Abuja.
"There is nothing anybody can do. This is
democracy for God's sake and there is rule of
law. People have liberty, right and freedom to
seek redress. Nobody can intimidate
anybody. If Jonathan has worked for five or
six years, there is nothing bad for him to take
a rest outside the country. If Sambo has
worked for four years, there is nothing wrong
in him taking a rest; so also the ministers.
Taking a rest is good for everybody.
"Taking a rest is not borne out of any fear
that the incoming government is going to
witch-hunt anybody. I am not afraid of probe.
If anybody wants to ask questions, there are
procedures to do so. The era of putting
people in jail cannot come again. It is gone
forever. We have a right to live and go and
rest anywhere and when there is time for
questions, we can come back and answer
them. I do not think that people are leaving
the country for fear of being probed."
But the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,
Musiliu Obanikoro, plans to travel abroad for
a two-week vacation after May 29.
Obanikoro, who spoke with one of our
correspondents on Friday, said he might go
to Ghana or South Africa or the United States
to take "a deserved rest."
He said, "I think it is a wise thing to take a
rest after all said and done. I will start with a
six-week executive course in Harvard
University and I will follow this up in August
by starting a degree course in History at the
same prestigious institution."
Meanwhile, the Minister of Industry, Trade
and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga;
Minister of Information, Senator Patricia
Akwashiki, and their Foreign Affairs
counterpart, Amb. Aminu Wali, ruled out plan
to leave the country for fear of prosecution.
Aganga, who spoke through his Special
Adviser on Communications, Mrs. Yemi
Kolapo, said, "The minister has been in office
since all this while and he is currently in
Lagos meeting with some businessmen. So,
there is no reason to do that."
Also the Special Assistant to the Information
Minister on Media, Mr. Joseph Mutah, said
Akwashiki would not leave the country
because of the fear of the incoming
government.
He said, "Why would she travel out of the
country because another government is
coming to power? The minister will remain
here before and after the inauguration of the
new government."
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, was emphatic
that Wali did not plan to travel out of the
country.
"Where is he going to? He has no plan to go
to anywhere, he is staying put in the country,
you can quote me on that," Ogbole-Ode said.
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