Saturday, May 24, 2025

Japan’s cabinet ministers resign over bribery scandal

Four Japanese ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday over a major corruption scandal in the country’s ruling party.

• December 15, 2023
From (L-R) Minister of Economy and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura[Photo: MSN] | Internal Affairs Junji Suzuki [Photo: NHK] | and Agriculture Ichiro Miyashita [Photo: Reuters]
From (L-R) Minister of Economy and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura [Photo: MSN] | Minister of Internal Affairs, Junji Suzuki [Photo: NHK] | and Minister of Agriculture, Ichiro Miyashita [Photo: Reuters]

Four Japanese ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday over a major corruption scandal in the country’s ruling party. 

The cabinet crisis results from accusations of $3.4 million in kickbacks within the division-plagued Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled the third-largest economy in the world nearly continuously for decades. 

Ministers of Economy and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Affairs Junji Suzuki, and Agriculture Ichiro Miyashita also tendered their resignations, as verified by chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

According to VOA, Matsuno, the main government spokesperson, stated that five deputy ministers and Michiko Ueno, the prime minister’s special adviser, were also leaving their positions. 

“The public’s doubts are around me over political funds, which is leading to distrust in the government. As an investigation is going on, I thought I wanted to set things right,” Nishimura told reporters. 

 Mr Kishida said a day before that he would deal with the allegations “head-on.” 

“I will make efforts like a ball of fire and lead the LDP to restore the public’s trust,” he told reporters.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Abubakar Kyari

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Sultan of Sokoto

Faith

Sultan seeks religious harmony to overcome Nigeria’s challenges

The sultan praised the country’s diversity, saying interactions between Muslims, Christians, and others were a strength.

CUSTOMS OFFICERS

NationWide

Tinubu’s reforms pushed customs revenue to ₦1.3 trillion in Q1 2025: Comptroller-General

Mr Adeniyi said the revenue surge emanated from improved technological deployment, enhanced port operations, and tightened enforcement on revenue leakages.

Governor Dikko Radda

States

2027: Katsina lawmakers endorse Gov. Radda for second term

According to the speaker, the lawmakers had unanimously resolved to endorse Mr Radda for a second term in office.

Vaccination

Health

NMA seeks more sensitisation to address vaccine hesitancy, infodemic

The state NMA vice chairman, Muhammed Salahudeen, said the topic was rightly chosen for Zamfara, especially on polio and non-polio-related issues.

North East Development Commission logo

States

NEDC links poor teacher training to insurgency

He assured that the NEDC would continue to engage the services of NALV in tackling training-related gap.

flood (credit: premium times)

States

Gombe: NEMA launches flood preparedness campaign

The director-general urged state stakeholders to intensify grassroots sensitisation.