Chris Ngige, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate and Minister of Labour and Employment, has revealed why he will not retire to run for president in 2023.
The Minister made the revelation to journalists shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, April 27.
He, on the other hand, denied knowledge of APC demands that all appointments quit before the presidential primary on May 30.
Chris Ngige claims that he has not received any particular instructions from the ruling APC regarding his presidential ambition, and that his decision to stay a member of the FEC is in accordance with the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The Minister further noted that Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act was set down by the Federal High Court in Umuahia on March 18, and that he is under no need to quit his position.
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“Because I don’t know about it, I’m hearing for the first time from you,” Chris Ngige responded when asked when he will retire in accordance with his party’s guidelines. “But, as I usually say, I’ll be guided by the word and spirit of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Orji Kalu says he may withdraw from contesting to be the president of Nigeria if major political parties don’t zone their tickets to the South-East.
Orji Kalu in a statement he issued on Tuesday, April 26, in Abuja, however, said that it was his desire and intention to run for the Presidency.
According to him, “I am committed to this pursuit, but I can’t make an official declaration to this regard without the full support of other regions.
“Everywhere in the world, politics is situational and that of Nigeria is exceptionally situational.
“The situation in Nigeria is that without the support of other regions, it would amount to a shadow chase for a South Easterner to be President.
“This is the reason I have been in the frontline of the call that the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should zone their presidential tickets to the South- East as they did for the South-West in 1999.
“In the absence of this zoning, I shall return to the senate and stay away from the presidential contest,’’ Orji Kalu said.
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