President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked General Martin-Luther Agwai as the head of his government’s intervention unit, SURE-P.

Agwai is a respected former Defence Chief, who led United Nation missions in Sudan, amidst other career successes.

Agwai was appointed by Jonathan to head SURE-P, a department created by the government to deploy saved fuel subsidy money for the provision of critical infrastructure and jobs.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Reuben Abati, presidential spokesperson, named Ishaya

Dare Akau as the new head of SURE-P.

The new SURE-P chairman hails from Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law.

Akau has long years of experience as a high-level administrator. He was at different times, chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Education Board and Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission.

The presidency did not give any reason for Agwai’s removal, beyond saying it was “in furtherance of his efforts to continuously re-energize and reposition agencies of the Federal Government for optimal service delivery.”

TELL learnt that Agwai may have been fired for flouting a presidential instruction that no government

official or member of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, should attend the 78^th birthday event of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Not only did he attend, General Agwai actually delivered a paper at the seminar held as part of activities to mark the former President’s birthday.

Jonathan and the former president have been locked in a longstanding row which has seen Obasanjo repeatedly criticise the president publicly.

The row climaxed three weeks ago when Obasanjo quit the party and publicly tore his membership card.