A popular Abuja-based human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has reacted to reports that President Muhammadu Buhari directed his ministers with political ambitions to resign.
Adeyanju said Buhari’s directive does not affect Vice President Yemi Osinbajo because he has the same ticket as the President.
Buhari ordered all ministers vying for any elective office in 2023 to resign on or before Monday, 16th of May.
The directive was handed over to the affected cabinet members during the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, confirmed it to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting.
Reacting, the convener of Concerned Nigerians said the likes of Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation and others should have resigned morally without waiting for the President’s directive.
Speaking with DAILY POST, Adeyanju said: “The Vice President is an elected official who has the same mandate as the President; the directive will not affect the Vice President.
“Both the Vice President and the President have a joint ticket so he can contest.
“However, those who this directive would affect are the ministers like Amaechi, Ogbonnaya Onu, and others are the ones it would affect. Ordinarily, these people should have resigned from a moral perspective, but they were making several legal arguments in this regard.
“It’s good and commendable that the President has asked them to resign; they should have resigned without being asked to resign their membership of the Federal Executive Council to focus on their electioneering campaigns.
“I don’t know why people want to eat their cake and have it, so it’s a welcome development that the President has asked them to resign.”
Among the affected ministers are Amaechi; Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; and Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.
