If Buhari Condones Disrespect, I Will Not – Oshiomhole Threatens To Fire Ngige

adams Oshiomhole

 Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has threatened to suspend the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, from the party letting him known he has no room for ‘dishonourable’ Ministers. The threat is coming after  Ngige’s refusal to constitute the board members of Federal Agencies’ and parastatals under his ministry.All Ministers were directed by Oshiomole to constitute the board members of their agencies but Chris Ngige refused, sending a letter to Oshiomole that will not as he only takes directives from President Buhari.Reacting to Ngige’s response, Oshiomole who spoke with state house correspondents after a meeting with President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, said “If the Minister refuses we will suspend him from the party. We must return to internal discipline. For me it is the height of mischief for any Minister, you cannot purport to be an Honourable Minister and you act dishonourably. Nobody is greater than the party. If the President condones disrespect for his office, I will not condone disrespect for the party.” Adams OshiomholeHe continued saying: “They have taken undue advantage of the President’s fatherly disposition. When we expel the Minister, we will prevail on the President that he can’t keep in his cabinet people who have neither respect for his own decisions nor have respect for the party without which they would not have been Ministers.  There are no independent candidates in our system. No Minister is above the party. It is absolutely illegal for a Minister in a democracy to prey on the powers of the board. The laws establishing those institutions are clear. The boards have procedures to follow. When a minister sits in his office to award a contract that didn’t go through boards, this is clearly an abuse of office. I am convinced that what they are doing is not with the endorsement of Mr President. I tell them it is the same authority that appoints these people. It is the same blue or green pen that made them Ministers that appointed these boards that they are refusing to swear in.“We have respect for Ministers but only to the extent that they recognise that they are a product of a political party.  They either comply or we will expel them from the party.” Photo Credit: Getty

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