SURE-P Chairman has Resigns (Dr. Christopher Kolade)

Dr. Christopher Kolade, in an exclusive interview with ThisDay, has confirmed his resignation as chairman of the Subsidy Re- investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
And this is happening days after N500bn SURE-P fund was declared missing.

According to ThisDay, Kolade has already informed President Goodluck Jonathan of his wish to step down as chairman of SURE-P latest by the end of November before his 81st birthday, which comes up in December.

Dr. Kolade says he's resigning to go attend to his private life and family.
But sources say Dr Kolade may have been frustrated by the spate of rumours trailing his tenure as
chairman of SURE-P despite his efforts to educate Nigerians on the true position of things.

According to a source, Kolade, who is a former chairman of Cadbury and former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, feels he has been ‘messed up’ and should take his leave.

He was said to have wept profusely last week at a review meeting of the committee and at one stage left the meeting before he was persuaded back.
Speaking on his resignation, he told THISDAY:

As at the time I was asked to come and take charge of the SURE-P, on the day that the President spoke to me, I was a few days away from my 79th birthday. So at the end of last year, I was 80 years old. I thank God that I’m strong, and in good health and my simple mind is still ticking over simply, but there comes a time when you are at my age that you ask yourself, is this what you should be doing now? Should you be spending your time at this moment fighting rumours and try to explain the same information many times? 

So, middle of this year, I went to the President and said to him, I want to leave but if you remember my deputy chairman then, Mamman Kontagora had just died. So the President now agreed that he would appoint another deputy chairman and that I would work with this deputy chairman for a while so that the place is not suddenly empty. The deputy chairman dies, the chairman goes but that is what we have been working on and I have actually written a letter to the President to let him know that latest at the end of this month, I’m out of SURE-P. So, he has that letter.”

Kolade explained he decided to make his planned exit public in order to prevent another round of rumour.

We feed on rumours and both in my family and in my religion they don’t like rumours. The letter was dated September 25, 2013. So if you hear or if rumour begins to indicate that I’m leaving, I want you to know that members of my committee already know that I’m going. So, it’s not a secret,” he stated.

When asked if his resignation was subject to the approval of the President, he explained that there is no going back on his decision to quit at the end of this month.