Why Kolade resigned as chairman of SURE-P

Chairman of the Subsidy Re- investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, has resigned.

Kolade  communicated  his decision to resign in a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan dated September 25, in which he indicated that he would be  leaving at the end of this month before his 81st birthday, which comes up in December.

Recall that Kolade's Deputy, Major- General Mammam Kontagora (rtd), who would have replaced him, died in May this year.

The development means that the presidency must come up with replacement to fill the two positions in a matter of days.

In the the letter titled 'Withdrawal from Chairmanship of the SURE-P Committee,'  the highly respected statesman wrote: 'I wish to inform you, respectfully, of my decision to resign from the position of Chairman of the SURE-P Committee.

'My desire is that the resignation should take effect as soon as Mr. President names a new chairman, but not later than the end of November, 2013.

'Mr. President, it has been a worthwhile experience for me to serve as chairman since the inauguration of the committee in February 2012. However, as I approach my 81st birthday, I wish to retire from the more time and energy consuming parts of my responsibilities and activities, one of which is the SURE-P Committee chairmanship.

'Mr. President, please accept my sincere thanks and appreciation for the opportunity to serve in the position of chairman, as well as my prayers for good progress and success for Nigeria in the years ahead.'

Kolade had stated that although he is still mentally and physically fit, time has come for him to attend to his private life and his family.

It was learnt that  that the challenge before the presidency at present is getting an immediate successor for Kolade, given the fact that his former deputy, Major- General Mammam Kontagora (rtd), who could have naturally stepped into his shoes, had died in May this year.

A source said that it was Kontagora's death that  delayed the retirement of the committee chairman till this month.

According to the source, the presidency was still shopping for a replacement for Kontagora when Dr. Kolade moved to formalise his resignation in a letter.

THE RAINBOW learnt that the main reason behind  Kolade's resignation has much to do withincessant invitations and harassment by various  the committees of the National Assembly. It was gathered that the former Chairman of Cadbury and recent Nigerian Ambassador to UK feared that these legislators were fixated on putting his hard-earned reputation on the line.

According to a source, the old man was often left wondering over certain invitations where most of the questions usually asked by members of the National Assembly committees during sittings were things they can easily crosscheck from the Ministry of Finance.

Besides, a source said that the National Assembly committees have unduly publicised the SURE-P in negative light even when there are no facts to back up the claims.

It was further learnt that . Kolade was particularly  embarrassed when a committee of the National Assembly announced that N500 billion SURE-P funds was missing.