A former presidential adviser on political matters, Ahmed Gulak, who was removed from office April 29, has resigned his position as national coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG), in what appears an indication he has completely fallen out with the presidency.
A report in the Nigerian Tribune said Mr. Gulak, on Friday, submitted a resignation letter dated May 2 to the deputy national coordinator of the campaign group, Eddy Olafeso.
The letter entitled “Resignation/Disengagement from Goodluck Support Group” did however not provide any insight into why Mr. Gulak quitted.
The former adviser, according to the report, merely advised his deputy to remain steadfast and focused in mobilizing support for President Jonathan in what he described as his sincere and committed effort to take the country to an enviable level of development.
President Goodluck Jonathan had on April 29 sacked Mr. Gulak, a man well known for complementing another presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, in launching verbal attacks on critics and opponents of President Jonathan.
Mr. Gulak, a lawyer and former lawmaker in Nigeria’s Northeast state of Adamawa, was one of President Jonathan’s closest aides, having worked as director of mobilization in the campaign that returned the president to power in 2011.
In November 2013, Mr. Gulak threatened to resign if Mr. Jonathan failed to make himself available for the forthcoming 2015 election. Read details of his threat here as reported by THE PUNCH at the time.
He claimed at the time that there was no alternative for Mr. Jonathan in 2015 as far as the Nigerian presidency was concerned.
It is not exactly clear why Mr. Gulak was fired. But he recently got into a bitter political fight with Akwa Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as well as the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party.
At the end of a recent party meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, Mr. Akpabio and the state executive of the party criticised Mr. Gulak’s visit “to inaugurate a sectional and unknown Support Group in favour of our dear President without bothering to pay any courtesies to the state leadership of the party.”
The party accused the politician of playing “ignoble and contemptuous role” in the affairs of the party in the state and warned him to desist from further interfering in the affairs of the PDP in Akwa Ibom.
A PREMIUM TIMES investigation had in 2013 listed Mr. Gulak among a growing list of Nigerian business and political elites who ran or still run secret offshore companies and accounts where they either hide their wealth to evade taxes, launder money or commit fraud.
Mr. Gulak, whose company dealt in the supply of fast boats, radial systems and naval communication equipment as well as military hardware to the Nigerian government, was linked to Erojim, a secret shell company in the British Virgin Islands, one of the world’s most notorious tax havens.
Taking advantage of the loose laws in several jurisdictions, shell companies like Mr. Gulak’s are easy to form and owners can remain anonymous while using nominee directors as fronts and deploying the corporations to hide ill-gotten assets, launder funds, dodge litigations or evade tax.
The sacked presidential adviser declined to respond to the allegation at the time, and the Nigerian government failed to open an investigation.
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