Posted by Reuters on
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo sacked his housing minister on Monday after she became embroiled in a scandal over the sale of public property to top officials below market prices.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo sacked his housing minister on Monday after she became embroiled in a scandal over the sale of public property to top officials below market prices.
Mobolaji Osomo is the second member of the government to be fired in less than two weeks by Obasanjo, who has embarked on a high-profile crackdown on graft and mismanagement of public funds in the world's eight biggest oil exporter.
Local media have accused Osomo of offering residential properties to some 200 top officials, including members of the president's family, ministers and state governors, below their market value.
Newspapers published the names of the people who were allegedly offered or sold the houses in the commercial capital Lagos.
Obasanjo has cancelled the allocation of the properties, which had been scheduled to be sold on the open market.
"Following the unsatisfactory explanations offered by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development ... her appointment has been terminated forthwith by the president," a government statement said.
It said the president regretted the embarrassment caused to people who had not solicited a property or had rejected the offer but whose names still appeared on the list of the beneficiaries.
The sacking comes two weeks after Obasanjo fired his education minister, accusing him of bribing lawmakers to pass an inflated education budget.