BREAKING NEWS: Nigerian Defence Minister, Aliyu Gusau resigns After Military Chief’s Snub Him

The top echelon of the Nigerian military yesterday refused to have a joint meeting with the new Minister of Defense Aliyu Gusau and his deputy Musikilu Obanikoro, a situation that triggered the resignation  by Mr. Gusau, himself a retired army general.

Sources at the ministry told SaharaReporters that Nigeria’s top military henchmen kept Mr. Gusau waiting for two days after he summoned them to a meeting, with different military service chiefs making excuses for their inability to meet with him and his deputy immediately. Finally, the situation turned testy yesterday when, after keeping Mr. Gusau and Mr. Obanikoro waiting for several hours, the Chief of Defense Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, showed up alone for a meeting. 

“When Air Marshal Badeh showed up, the Minister of Defense told him he was expecting all the chiefs of staff within the military, but Badeh reportedly told him there was no need,” said one source at the ministry. Our sources added that Badeh also told Mr. Gusau that he alone would be meeting with the minister as the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), stating that this arrangement was the collective decision of military officers in the country. 

One source said an attempt by the junior minister of defense, Mr. Obanikoro, to intervene was rudely brushed aside as Badeh asked him to “shut up.” “Air Marshal Badeh is said to have called Senator Obanikoro a ‘small boy’ and warned him that the military was not going to be taking orders anymore from bloody civilians like him,” one source stated. 

Soon after the altercation, General Gusau (rtd) reportedly ended the meeting and asked the Permanent Secretary in the ministry to transmit his letter of resignation to President Goodluck Jonathan. [Reported SaharaReporters]It is believed President Jonathan selected NSA Gusau for political rewards.

There is a puzzled reaction to Gusau’s resignation with many Nigerians rejoicing that possibly the nation’s most dangerous man and a man so desperate to become President, he can literally do and support anything, has resigned.