Powerful interests forced me out – Nnaji

Barely 24 hours after his sudden exit from President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, ex-Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, on Wednesday said he resigned  because some  “powerful vested interests” were bent on tarnishing his image.

Nnaji  added that he   left the cabinet  in order to save the Jonathan administration from the “spill over” of the attacks by the “powerful vested interests.”

His reaction which was contained in a statement by his spokesman, Ogbuagu Anikwe, coincided with  a declaration   by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, that   Nnaji’s exit would reinforce the credibility of the Federal Government’s reforms in the power sector.

But the former minister said  he  was proud  that he left at  a time  that  power generation and supply  had supply had improved.

 The statement   reads in part, “I  had to voluntarily resign the office of minister to retain my  integrity which has in recent days come under scurrilous attacks by powerful vested interests that were hell bent on besmirching the integrity and reputation that I  painstakingly built over the years.