Ngige says suspension of strike depends on ASUU

The suspension of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, according to Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige, is contingent on the union.

On Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Ngige made the remark, urging for varsity teachers to be courteous.

“It depends on ASUU. The ball is in their court. They should go and meet the Benimi Briggs Committee and look at what the committee is doing and make further inputs so that the work can be accelerated,” he said during the current affairs show.

Senator Ngige also believes he has the capacity to turn the country’s fortunes for good, insisting that if he wins the presidential race in 2023, two years would be enough to do that.

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“If my party gives me the ticket, many Nigerians know that Chris Ngige is the round peg for the round hole of Nigeria. I will fit in, and in two years, only two years, you would see the effect of my governance,” the Labour and Employment Minister said.

According to him, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the major challenger against his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), he is confident that the ruling party will win the 2023 polls.

He argued that the APC has been winning most of the bye-elections across the country, saying it is an indication that it is the party to beat in the next general elections.

“Have you looked at the INEC bye-elections results in the last 18 months? My party is constantly winning elections because the people know. Don’t think that these people you see in the rural areas don’t know what is going on in the country. They know!” he said.

“PDP is our main challenger but we shall win them. They have always been challenging us,” the former governor maintained.

Ngige said he has the qualities to lead Nigeria, recalling his years of public service. As far as he is concerned, his loyalty to the ruling party is also a critical factor that puts him in good stead to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

“If you look at it, I am a two-time minister which means I started with the administration in 2015 and then I was reappointed,” Ngige argued.

“So, I have passed through the crucibles so to say as a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). So, the government programmes, Vis-à-vis the manifesto of our party, the APC, are known to me.”