BY VICTORIA IKEANO

After succumbing to pressures to suspend his special adviser on infrastructure, Yusuf Abubakar Musa, also known as Musa Mada, Nasarawa State governor, Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule is to set to dissolve his cabinet.

The governor had initially been reluctant to immediately suspend the special adviser who was arrested by the police for criminal conspiracy in the vandalization of rail tracks, apparently waiting for him to resign or in alignment with the dictum that “one is innocent until proven guilty by the law courts”. However, legal luminaries whose views were related by this correspondent in another story, pointed out that “preliminary or prima facie investigation must have shown that the special adviser is somehow implicated, hence his arrest”.

In his first reaction, Governor Sule had described the arrest of his special adviser on infrastructure for involvement in vandalization of rail tracks as embarrassing and shameful, adding that the act was economic sabotage. The statement signed by the Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Honourable Dogo Shammah, urged the police to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to book. This reaction was disappointing to a cross section of the populace as it fell short of suspending the arrested special adviser.

Governor Sule eventually suspended him on Tuesday through a statement by a permanent secretary in the office of Secretary to the State Government (SSG). According to the statement, the special adviser on infrastructure was being suspended “with immediate effect”, pending the outcome of investigations by the police. This correspondent had reported that a majority of citizens wanted the special adviser outrightly sacked or suspended.

Former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in the state, Yusuf Shehu Usman had said, “To save the good public image of his administration, the governor should suspend the arrested special adviser on infrastructure pending further investigation and possible prosecution”; while Mohammed Shaffa a pharmacist opined, “We urgently need a new special adviser on infrastructure. The reputation and integrity of the current one has been tainted and no longer fits the structure. The government needs a clean, untainted one”.

It was learnt that embarrassing arrest and now suspended special adviser on infrastructure to Governor Sule has necessitated rejigging of his cabinet. It was further gathered that even before this episode, Governor Sule had privately expressed disappointment with some members of his cabinet.