After a presidential directive mandating appointees with political ambitions to resign, a number of ministers were said to have thrown in the towel while others chickened out upon realising their slim chances. Despite a clear provision in the Electoral Act instructing government appointees with ambition to contest elections to resign their appointments, the ministers had to wait till President Muhammadu Buhari gave a directive before resigning. Some Nigerians who spoke to our correspondents have urged the president to fill the vacant positions left by the outgoing ministers to forestall any vacum in governance.
AKPEN LEVA: Well, I think the law stipulates that all appointees who want to contest should resign in accordance with the law.
So, if they have indicated interest that they want to run for any office at all, it is expected that they should resign so that they will go and concentrate on what they want to do because if they are still in government, they will be distracted. They can even distract the government.
So, it’s even better for them to go and concentrate on their contest. So, I think the president should act immediately and fill those vacant positions after they resign so that he can continue with governance.
OLUFEMI OJO: If the presidential directive is implemented, it would go a long way to stop political appointees from greediness. You see them sitting in positions of leadership without making any significant progress in meeting the interests of the masses. Yet, they are still aspiring for another political position using public resources to finance their campaigns.
In the history of elections in this country, I have not seen where there is massive purchase of presidential nomination form like I have witnessed in the last one month in the ruling APC. Some of them knew very well that they cannot go far in the race. But they have access to public funds. They loot from it to finance their political ambitions.
I can tell you that all these nomination forms they purchased were purely a strategy in the ruling party to generate revenues for campaign after the primary elections. I want to see the president as a role model by ensuring that all those who purchased the form should give account of how they raised the money.
HASSAN INUWA: We have in the constitution on what political appointees should do if he or she wants to contest for elective position while still in office. It is just that most provisions in our legal system exist only in theory.
As Mr. President came out with this directive, it is high time the legal framework by which this can be effected should be properly harnessed by the stakeholders in the Nigeria’s judiciary. The reason why you see some of these illegalities in our system was because independence is not given to the body responsible for the enforcement. But thank God this directive came straight from the executives.
It has become a tradition that in every last year to the general elections, attention of political office holders will shift from their core mandate of giving dividends of democracy to people, and focus on campaigns on how they want to retain their position or aspire for fresh one. This is not a good practice in a democratically-elected government.
NNAMDI AMADI: President Buhari’s directive to ministers with political ambition to resign from his cabinet is a welcome development, albeit long overdue. Nigerians are already used to the slow pace of the president and his government to critical issues of governance. You recall the number of months it took him to announce his first cabinet at the inception of his administration.
Since the declaration of their political ambitions, the affected ministers have projected themselves as a major distraction to the already struggling Federal Government. No doubt, they already have divided attention and government work as well as the populace can’t continue to suffer for their personal political ambition. The appointees can now go and focus on their campaigns.
It is coming on the heels of the loud public outcry against to prevent the appointees from using public funds for electioneering campaign as well as abuse of power. The candidates are now presumed to be on a level-playing ground. The directive is in line with the provisions of section 84 (12) of the electoral Act and nobody is above the law, not even the ministers.
OBINWANNE EMEKA: This is commendable. It’s a right step in the right direction. A government appointee should not be seen holding an official position whilst contesting for an elective position. If such a person is still in appointment, there may be incidences that may lead to embezzlement to fund his election campaign.
Hence, President Buhari’s directive is in order. The new Electoral Act further legalises this. So far, some ministers are resigning from their appointments and focusing fully on electioneering. This is impressive to see and it is going to deepen Nigeria’s democracy.
Election in this part of the world is serious business and it is not in good taste to mix it with elective position as it would have a negative effect on people’s lives. This directive from Mr President goes further to state that politicians should avoid double standards.
AUSTIN AGADA: There is nothing wrong with that directive. It’s just a way of getting them focused on their vision and not distracted by their current jobs. I think it’s a welcome development so that they will be focused and not have divided attention.
You know very well that ambition is a strong thing, you can’t be on the job trying to deliver and also pursuing another ambition that has to do with contest. So, it’s a welcome development. And obviously, we expect the president to quickly take steps to ensure that those ministries that will be vacant by virtue of their resignation are filled immediately so that those ministries are not abandoned.
But I know that the president is doing everything possible to deliver on his mandate so that at the end of his tenure, he can be adjudged or judged by his performance in office.
