Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, advised political appointees who want to run for president in 2023 to leave.
If political appointees refuse to quit, Gbajabiamila believes they are endangering themselves and their parties.
“No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election,” states Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022, which was recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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This means that political appointees with political ambitions must leave their positions before running for office.
Despite their aspiration, ministers such as Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, have refused to leave.
In an interview with Channels TV, Gbajabiamila stated that certain political appointees are determined on resigning before running in the 2023 general elections.
While speaking about their choice, the Speaker cautioned that a political appointee may nullify their party’s primary election.
He said, “There are several mischievous people. Some appointees have resigned their appointments to seek election, while some remain obstinate, for want of a better word.
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“Under the amended Act, there is a court decision pending that says there is no provision on this and during our conversation, we have said that the adjudication by the court should not be executed as of yet. Then there has also been an appeal by the National Assembly to set it aside.
“So invariably, it is a personal decision they have to make. Therefore the risk they run at the end of it all, if the court does find that the National Assembly was well within its rights to make such a provision that you are contesting an election while still a political appointee, then you are on a very serious risk of losing your election bid and not only that, you as a person also put the party you belong to at risk.”
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