Despite various unresolved crises in their ministries, five ministers under President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration have joined APC presidential race, declaring their interest to replace their boss in the coming 2023 presidential election.
These ministers who have spent at least three years in office tossed their hats in the ring in the middle of crises of national concern.
In this piece, Daily Trust briefly highlights some of these ministers
ROTIMI AMAECHI
The former two-term governor of Rivers State is one of the seven ministers who have picked the APC presidential nomination forms.
Amaechi wants to run for the president despite the ongoing crisis in the transportation sector, including the Abuja-Kaduna train attack that resulted in the killing of at least 9 passengers and abduction of dozens who are still in captivity.
The minister declared to run for president while the victims’ families grieve over the loss of their loved ones and are uncertain of the fate of those in captivity. The Abuja-Kaduna train transportation has also yet to resume service though the bombed rail tracks were said to have been fixed.
CHRIS NGIGE
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, also joined the race for the presidential seat amid unresolved disputes between labour and the Federal Government. Ngige declared for presidency months after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared warning strike.
Ngige had, in an interview with Silverbird Television, blamed ASUU leadership for the prolonged industrial action which has kept public universities under lock and key since February 14.
The minister also described ASUU leadership’s attitude to the conciliation efforts as “uncooperative and anti-labour.”
TIMIPRE SYLVA
Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has also joined the presidential race amidst turbulent crisis. The funny thing about the case of Sylva is that the forms were presented to him at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers, while there was a long queue in front of a filling station adjacent the place.
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been spending sleepless nights just to get fuel. To worsen matters, the aviation industry is in the middle of a major crisis, which almost led to the grounding of flights nationwide. Airline operators had protested the skyrocketing price of Aviation fuel, which reportedly hit N700 per litre recently.
Inadequate supply of fuel and price volatility have been significant sources of disruption to flight schedules in Nigeria in recent times.
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