Trump sacks Nigerian adviser in surprise dissolution of business councils

Adebayo Ogunlesi, a Nigerian businessman based in the US, is among the advisers of US President Donald Trump affected by the dissolution of two business councils.

Ogunlesi, who has a majority stake in London Gatwick airport, was appointed by Trump last December to serve as a member of his strategy and policy forum.

In a tweet in on Wednesday, the US president said he did not want to put pressure on the business people and he was therefore “ending both” the manufacturing council and strategy and policy forum.

“Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the manufacturing council and strategy and policy forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!,” Trump tweeted.

Earlier, Kenneth Frazier of Merck, Kevin Plank of Under Armour and Brian Krzanich of Intel reportedly resigned from the manufacturing council because Trump was “not quick” in condemning the white supremacists who had a clash with anti-racist protesters in Virginia.

But the US president appeared to be unruffled by tweeting that: “For every CEO that drops out of the manufacturing council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. Jobs!.”

Other members of Ogunlesi’s council relieved from their duties are Stephen A Schwarzman (forum chairman), chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone; Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, General Motors; Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic; Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co; and Larry Fink, chairman and CEO, BlackRock.

The remaining are Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company; Rich Lesser, president and CEO, Boston Consulting gGroup; Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Jim McNerney, former chairman, president, and CEO, Boeing; Ginni Rometty, chairman, president, and CEO, IBM; Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics, Hoover Institute, former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System; Mark Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO, EY; Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO, General Electric; and Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winner, vice chairman of IHS Markit.