Buhari threatened to fire ministers who questioned his THOUGHTLESS bilateral agreement with the UAE

Buhari threatened to fire ministers who questioned his THOUGHTLESS bilateral agreement with the UAE

Reliable sources have alleged that two top ministers nearly escaped being sacked by whiskers for daring to stop President Muhammadu Buhari, from signing a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to the sources who confided with an online portal, they alleged that the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun and her counterpart in the Budget and Planning Ministry, Udo Udoma, were said to have disagreed with Buhari and considered the commercial and trade agreements signed between Nigeria and the UAE as being against Nigeria’s best economic interests.

The Nigerian government had on January 19, 2016 reportedly reached an agreement with UAE which focused on four judicial issues: extraditing criminals in the UAE to Nigeria, the transfer of imprisoned and sentenced persons, mutual legal assistance on criminal matters and mutual assistance on civil and commercial issues.

The bilateral agreement expressly relates to the “recovery and repatriation of stolen Nigerian assets.”

Ahead of the signing of the agreements, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated that, “Nigeria also expects to get more support from the UAE for its war against terrorism and the recovery of Nigeria’s stolen funds.”

The treaties had caused rift among Buhari’s cabinet members who were suspicious of the economic repercussion of the agreement.

The vocal dissenters, according to sources, were Adeosun and Udoma, who counselled Buhari not to sign those agreements.

Sources revealed that Buhari was however, not interested in his ministers’ arguments that the economic agreements between Nigeria and the UAE were weighted against Nigeria’s interests.

“Mr. President was focused on doing whatever was necessary to repatriate stolen funds and extradite criminals hiding in the UAE,” said one source.

He added, “He was so concerned about that sole issue that he became incensed about the warning from some members of his team. At one point in the debate, Buhari declared his readiness to relieve Mrs. Adeosun and Mr. Udoma of their portfolios if they did not drop their opposition to the agreements.”

Another source states that the two ministers realized the importance of identifying and reclaiming assets illicitly stashed away by corrupt Nigerians in the UAE, especially in Dubai.

However, they felt that Nigeria gave away too much in terms of its bilateral economic interests in order to achieve the president’s major goal.

When Post-Nigeria contacted one of Buhari’s spokesmen, Femi Adesina, to confirm the story, he stated that the actors in the story are in better position to speak.

“Please, can you contact the actors involved to get clarification.” He stated

He then added, “All I know is that the president has a good working relation with his ministers,” he stated and ended the call, signifying a tense atmosphere in the villa.”

Adesina had earlier stated in a statement that, “Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Obaid Attayar, signed the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, while the Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah signed the Agreement on Trade Promotion and Protection with the UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs.

-Post Nigeria