….Amaechi, Malami, Ngige must Resign by Saturday
Finally, it is now clear that President Muhammdu Buhari’s ministers who have political ambitions must resign from their posts by Saturday, April 30, or forget their dreams, according to new guidelines released by the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The three prominent ministers affected by this development are Rotimi Amaechi (Minister of Transport), Dr. Chris Ngige (Minister of Labour), and Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
While Amaeachi and Ngige have declared their interests in the presidency, Malami is rumoured to be interested in the governorship of Kebbi State.
The new guidelines by APC have ordered that all political office holders who desire to participate in the party’s primaries at the various levels must leave office at least 30 days to the conduct of such primaries.
The APC has said that its presidential primaries would hold between May 30 and June 1, which would just 30 days from Saturday, the last day of April. Also, the primaries for the governorship, Senate, federal and state Assembly will hold between May 18 and 23, going by the party’s timetable.
Section 3(i) of the APC Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for the 2023 General Elections states; “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for the purpose of the nomination of candidates.
“Any political office holder interested in contesting for an elective office shall leave Office 30 days prior to the date of election or party primary for the office sought.”
This development lays to rest speculations as to whether the ruling party would go against the provisions of the Electoral Act, which in part provides that all political office holders who have their eyes on elective offices must resign their positions to be able to participate in the parties’ primaries.
There were reports that the Presidency and the office of the Attorney General were blaming each other for the failure in compelling the affected ministers and other officeholders to resign in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
