Nigeria's acting leader dissolves cabinet

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the cabinet on Wednesday in a bid to consolidate his authority at the helm of Africa's most populous nation a month after he assumed executive powers.

The surprise move heightens immediate uncertainty in the oil-producing nation of 140 million people, leaving civil servants in charge of ministries until new ministers are screened and approved, a process which could take weeks.

In the interim, Jonathan -- who assumed executive powers in early February in the absence of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua -- will be Nigeria's sole administrator because as acting head of state he has no deputy in the presidency.

"He did not give us any reason for the dissolution of the cabinet. Permanent secretaries will take charge of the ministries from tomorrow," outgoing Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after a lengthy cabinet meeting.

Jonathan's efforts to assert his authority come as Nigeria tries to contain violence in the "Middle Belt" between its mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south, which has killed hundreds this year, and as militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta threaten to unleash a renewed campaign of attacks.

The powerful governors of Nigeria's 36 states, senior ruling party officials and other lobby groups will now put forward nominees for new ministers. Jonathan will decide on a shortlist which will then be screened and approved by the Senate.

Past precedent suggests the process could be drawn out as rival interest groups -- not least the governors, who are highly influential in selecting nominees for presidential elections -- jockey for position.

But Jonathan, from the southern Niger Delta, is unlikely to run in elections due by April next year because of an unwritten agreement that power rotates between the north and south.

Absolved of the need to win powerful allies to back any electoral ambition, he could move to appoint a new team of ministers without too much consultation, including calling back some of those dismissed in the blanket sacking, analysts say.

HEIGHTENED UNCERTAINTY

Much will depend on who is selected for the new cabinet, with the risk that some disaffected former ministers mount court challenges to the constitutional legality of his assumption of executive powers and therefore his authority to sack them.

"Investors will not sit comfortably with the heightened level of uncertainty ... Reassurances will be sought that some kind of predictability can be reinstated quickly," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Bank.

Jonathan took over as acting president in early February, towards the end of Yar'Adua's three-month absence for treatment for a heart condition in a Saudi clinic. The 58-year-old leader has since returned to Nigeria but remains too sick to rule.

His secretive return in the middle of the night raised fears among diplomats, investors and political analysts that his inner circle of aides, led by his wife Turai, would fight to maintain their influence and undermine Jonathan.

But Jonathan has moved quickly to assert his position, sacking the national security adviser and demoting the former justice minister -- both among Yar'Adua's staunchest allies -- and appointing feared former defence minister and retired general Theophilus Danjuma as a top adviser.

His public statements have shown a will to accelerate, not depart from, the policies of Yar'Adua. His top priorities include electoral reform, fighting corruption, delivering reliable electricity supplies and reviving an amnesty in the Niger Delta.

Yar'Adua was dubbed "Baba Go-Slow" because of slow progress by his administration on key issues, and Jonathan's latest move could allow him to speed up some government business.

"The old government was divided and demoralised ... The challenge for Jonathan is to produce an administration that isn't divided, given the very short tenure that remains," said Antony Goldman, head of London-based PM Consulting.

"In the meantime, Nigeria may be one of those places where the absence of ministers will actually facilitate rather than hold up government," he told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha and Nick Tattersall; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)