Why Nigeria police affairs, sports ministers resign

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's ministers for police affairs and sports have resigned from the cabinet to run in gubernatorial elections in April, a presidential spokesman said.
It is not unusual for Nigerian politicians to quit ahead of elections to boost their chances of getting a more lucrative position, and these resignations should not directly damage President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, the moves add to disruption within the cabinet after the defection of the information minister last week and should lift the confidence of opposition parties ahead of a presidential election next April in which Jonathan is considered the front-runner.
Nigeria's 36 state governors are immensely powerful figures, some of whom control budgets larger than those of neighbouring countries, making them attractive and fiercely contested political positions.
Adamu Waziri, minister of police affairs, is leaving to contest the governorship of Yobe state, while the minister of sports, Isah Biu, is running for governor of Kwara state, the government announced after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
They will remain within the PDP party and their duties will be absorbed by existing ministers.
"Two ministers today (Wednesday) resigned from the cabinet to pursue their political careers," Labaran Maku, information minister said.
"Subsequently, the president redeployed two other ministers in the cabinet to take over their portfolios while they still retain their own portfolios," Maku added.
The PDP candidate has won every presidential election in Africa's most populous nation since the end of military rule just over a decade ago, but disagreement over who should run on its ticket in 2011 risks splitting the party.