BREAKING: Buhari sacks Head of Nigeria’s Budget Office, Bright Okogu

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday removed the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogu, from office.

The reason for his removal remains unclear at press time.

In his place, Yahaya Gusau, whose details remains unknown at this time, has been appointed his successor. Details about Mr. Gusau

Until his appointment in December 2007, Mr. Okogu held several top positions, including Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund, IMF, in Washington DC; Senior Operations Officer at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Fund and Market Analyst, OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria.

He served as Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance (2004 to 2007) and also the pioneer Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Although he worked to deepen openness and transparency about the Nigerian budget for years, Mr. Okogu will also be remembered for failing to make details of the 2015 budget public several months after the budget proposal was presented to the National Assembly.

Journalists and analysts also told this newspaper at the time they were denied the details, amid speculations the government deliberately refused to publish them online or in hard copies as done in past years, to avoid embarrassing reports and analyses.