Nigeria’s minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi and his counterpart in the ministry of labour, Chris Ngige risk disqualification from the presidential primaries of the All progressives Congress, APC following their unwillingness to resign from their respective offices.
POLITICS NIGERIA learned that section 84 (12) of the new electoral act mandates all political appointees seeking elective office to resign ahead of any party primary they plan to participate in.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, while signing the electoral bill on February 25, expressed reservations over section 84(12) and asked the National Assembly to delete it. He subsequently wrote to the National Assembly requesting the amendment. The president’s request was, however, rejected.
However, a federal high court in Umuahia ruled that the provision was illegal and asked the attorney general, Abubakar Malami to delete the section. The national assembly and the Peoples Democratic party, PDP have since appealed the decision.
Speaking on the matter, a member of the APC NWC who pleaded anonymity said; “If the court upholds section 84, the affected ministers will be disqualified. But if the court deletes the section, they can contest without resigning. However, my advice to them is to resign, if they don’t want to be disqualified.”
Also, speaking on the matter, The APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, said the party would ensure that all political appointees in APC wishing to contest the 2023 elections comply with section 84 (12) of the electoral act.
“The party will simply follow the electoral act. Any member of the party who is in an appointive position, we will expect such individual to resign before our primaries. We are hopeful that they will comply at the right time and we are going to ensure that anyone seeking our ticket will not breach the electoral act.”
