Vice president Goodluck Jonathan has again showed that he will not tolerate any form of indiscipline from cabinet members, as two ministers were yesterday locked out of a meeting between the federal executive and foreign investors.
The ministers of foreign affairs and power, Ojo Maduekwe and Lanre Babalola, arrived at the Vice President’s conference hall, which was the venue of the meeting, after the doors had been shut.
It is the tradition that once the president or the vice president enters the chambers for a meeting, the doors are shut. The ministers arrived at the chambers about 15 and 20 minutes late respectively.
So, the two officials were left standing outside the hall while the meeting went on.
The first to arrive after the door was locked was Mr Maduekwe, who probably thought it was business as usual and he could just walk in at a time that pleases him, only to be embarrassed by the security operatives who told him he could not enter the meeting hall.
He had to solicit the help of the Chief Security Officer to the Vice President before he was let into the venue of the meeting.
Mr Babalola, who was the last to arrive, was also left standing outside.
Reason
Both were later seen trying to explain to Mr Jonathan the reason why they arrived late for the meeting. Mr Maduekwe said he got the call to attend the meeting just five minutes before the meeting was to start while Mr Babalola claimed to have received the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time, which was 1pm.
An aide to Mr Babalola, Yakubu Lawal however said the minister participated fully at the meeting. “He attended the meeting,” Mr Lawal said. “He was at the meeting from the start. He was in attendance. Nobody locked him out.”
Reader Comments (55)
post a comment
* = Required information