Nigeria’s acting President Goodluck Jonathan has dissolved the cabinet, a month after officially taking over from ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua. Analsysts told RNW the decision was a show of force from the de facto leader of Africa’s largest nation, and proves he is serious about staying in power.

 Goodluck Jonathan didn’t offer a reason for his decision on Wednesday, saying only that permanent secretaries would assume the work of Cabinet ministers until a new cabinet is appointed.

 Show of force

Although President Yar’Adua officially remains head of state, this was a clear sign his replacement wants to show who’s really the boss, according to Nigeria-based political analyst Ayodele Thompson: “One of the key reasons why the cabinet was dissolved today is to show that he’s actually in charge. Over the past few weeks there have been some concerns about whether he’s truly in charge.”

President Yar’Adua returned to Nigeria two weeks ago from Saudi Arabia, where he’d been receiving medical treatment for an unspecified medical condition. He’s currently in an intensive care facility inside the Presidential Palace in Abuja, and hasn’t been seen in public since mid-November.

 Fired

One possibility is that Goodluck Jonathan will now attempt to remove the president from his post, says John Campbell, an analyst with the US Council on Foreign Relations: “A new cabinet might take steps to remove President Yar’Adua from office on the basis that he can no longer fulfil his functions. However, to do that requires a cabinet and what President Goodluck Jonathan has done is he has fired the present cabinet but I don’t see anything that indicates he’s appointed anybody to a cabinet.”