Acting Nigerian leader takes steps to secure his power base
Thursday 18 March 2010
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EmailNigeria's acting president dissolved his cabinet on Wednesday, purging top officials loyal to seriously ill President Umaru Yar'Adua in his first major act since taking over the oil-rich country's highest office more than a month ago.
Announcing Goodluck Jonathan's decision, information minister Dora Akunyili emphasised that there would be "no vacuum in the government as permanent secretaries will take charge."
Ms Akunyili said that Mr Jonathan would issue a statement soon about who will now serve in the cabinet, adding that "the acting president gives no reason for the dissolution."
Any selections that Mr Jonathan offers for the cabinet must be vetted and approved by the Nigerian senate.
However, laws require that all the nation's 36 states are represented on the executive body - a means to provide unity in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, sectarian mobs have killed 12 people in a small Christian village in central Nigeria, the latest violence in a region where religious tensions fuelled by competion over arable land have already killed hundreds of people this year.
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