FRESH crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the publicity secretary of the party opening accused Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, of working against the party.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Al- haji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige to order over alleged anti-party activity.
Ajaka raised the concern at the weekend on the heels of remarks attributed to Senator Ngige on an Arise TV monitored programme.
The Labour Minister had said he would not be able to disclose his presidential candidate between the APC candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.
Ngige, a serving Minister in the cabinet of APC led Buhari administration is from Anambra State in the South-east geopolitical zone as the LP candidate. Incidentally, both Senator Ngige and Peter Obi were former governors of Anambra State.
Responding to the question of his choice between the APC and LP presidential candidates, Ngige had said both Tinubu and Peter Obi are his friends.
He said: “My choice will be in the ballot box, on the day of ballot I will make my choice. I won’t tell Nigerians what I will do secretly…”
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC in a statement however said Senator Ngige’s response was uncalled for being a member of the ruling party.
Ajaka declared that the presidential ticket had since been won and lost and all chieftains of the party should queue be- hind the standard bearer that emerged at the last June Convention.
“Presidential primary election had long ended and the party had settled for the choice of Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hence all the party leaders should put their ambitions behind them for now to deliver the party’s presidential ticket.
“It is expected of a serving Minister in an APC government to be a trusted apostle of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidency in 2023, who along other party leaders laboured to ensure the enthronment of the same government in 2015 which they are now serving in.
“Chief Ngige and other APC appointees, especially in the federal cabinet should not forget in a hurry that they are holding onto party’s mandate, hence the need to protect it with whatever it requires, but if they can no longer protect the interest of the APC in public and that of our presidential candidate (Tinubu), I think the honourable thing to do is to step aside from the government formed by the APC.”
According to Ajaka, if such trend is allowed to continue among the appointees and party leaders, it is capable of generating bad blood among APC rank and file.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), may kick-start its campaigns tomorrow with the inauguration of APC Women Presidential Campaign Team.
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The elaborate event will hold on Monday at the Dome Banquet Hall, President Villa, Abuja. The party presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu who returned to the country on Thursday, visited the venue on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari will chair the APC Presidential Campaign Council while the First Lady, Aisha Buhari will preside over the Women Wing of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Team.
Senator representing Lagos Central, Oluremi Tinubu and former First Lady of Borno State, Nana Shettima, will serve as chairman and co-Chairman respectively of the Women Wing.
The APC’s women’s campaign team, comprising over 1,200 women drawn from across the country, is expected to bolster the party’s gender-sensitive credentials as the APC is also the only major political party to have a female gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 election cycle.
Investigations revealed that for seamless promotion of its programmes, the women’s campaign team has been ac- corded a degree of autonomy to execute its and activities at the national, zonal and state levels. “Efforts are also reportedly ongoing to rally the thousands of women-focused support groups affiliated with the APC for a nationwide mass mobilisation project,” a party source said
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