The recently sacked Minister of Power, Engineer Sale Mamman, was aware of the fate awaiting him 24 hours before he was fired, The Nation gathered on Friday.

President Muhammadu Buhari was said to have personally informed Mamman of his imminent sack on Tuesday after inviting him to the Presidential Villa.

Buhari, according to Mamman’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Aaron Artimas, even gave the ex-minister the option attending the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday where news of the sack was broken.

Mamman, however, chose to stay away from the meeting.

Artimas said there was a mutual relationship between the President and the ex-minister which made Buhari personally pick him without lobbying from anyone and which also led to the President telling him why he had to be dropped.

Artimas was said to have been dropped to pave the way for the strengthening of the cabinet and alleged tension in the ministry.

Asked to confirm whether the ex-minister collapsed as reported in some newspapers (not The Nation), Artimas dismissed the reports as fake.

He noted that his principal had over stressed himself on his return from Chad and did not sleep for up to eight hours.

Mamman’s blood pressure, according to his aide, rose and he became a bit ill but never collapsed.

His words: “It is the wicked fake news as usual because Nigerians are becoming vindictive and making conditions extreme for people we don’t like having issues with.

“The true story is that on Tuesday evening, the President himself called the minister to the Villa and informed him personally of his intention to make changes and that he (Mamman) would be affected by the changes for the reasons they discussed between them.

“And the minister accepted in good faith and thanked the President for giving him the opportunity.

“And the President told him that he was doing it because he wanted to strengthen the government and reduce some tension within the ministry.

“The President had singlehandedly appointed him because nobody lobbied for Sale to become minister.

“So, he felt that as his own son, if there is anything, he can have a mutual discussion.

“When he got home, he was tensed because when he went to Chad and he came back, he had been ailing a little bit, he had not rested.

“So, he took drugs and went to bed.

“When he woke up, his body was ailing. His sugar level had gone up. Maybe it had been long he had eight hours sleep.

“And the doctor yesterday had to bring down the sugar level.

“So, if you go to his house now in Maitama, you will see him there.

“Yesterday, I insisted he should grant interview, he granted Hausa service interview.

“So there was nothing like collapse. He heard about his removal before everyone else. At least, the President honoured him with that prior information.

“The President even gave him the option whether he would attend the Federal Executive Council meeting that day or not so that he would make the announcement after the meeting. He said he would not attend. These are the facts.”

(The Nation: Excluding headline)

Update news