In accordance with the Electoral Act, the total number of Commissioners that had resigned so far in order to contest the 2023 elections is over 60 across the 36 states.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Muhammad Bello, Wednesday, said Governor Aminu Tambuwal had accepted the resignations of at least, 13 Commissioners who have resigned their appointments in Sokoto State ahead of the primary elections.
The statement read, “Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has accepted the resignation of 13 key portfolio holders in his administration, which include Manir Iya, the deputy governor, who was also the overseer of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
“The remaining Commissioners are those hitherto manning Ministries of Finance, Environment, Youths and Sports, Lands and Housing; as well as Careers and Security: Abdussamad Dasuki, Sagir Bafarawa, Bashir Gorau, Aminu Bodinga and Col. Garba Moyi (retd) respectively.
“Other Commissioners who resigned are those of Commerce, Works, Water Resources, Solid Minerals and Religious Affairs: Bashir Gidado, Salihu Maidaji, Shuaibu Gobir, Abubakar Ahmad and Abdullahi Maigwandu correspondingly.
“More of those who resigned include the Secretary to the State Government, Mallam Sa’idu Umar and the Chief of Staff, Mukhtar Magori.”
The NIGERIAN OBSERVER gathered that Sokoto is not the only state where Commissioners have resigned. In Kano State, no fewer than 10 Commissioners have resigned while in Delta State at least nine have also resigned. The case is the same in Kwara State where no fewer than seven Commissioners have resigned while in Bayelsa State at least five have stepped aside.
In Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently told members of his cabinet who want to run for office to resign.
However, the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, insisted that he would not resign until 30 days before the general election as required by the constitution.
He said Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was a minister when he contested the governorship primary and won, adding that nobody could confer his opinion on another.
Nwajiuba stated this when a group, Project Nigeria, presented the N100m presidential form of the All Progressives Congress it purchased for him on Wednesday.
The Minister advised anyone who was hurt by his decision to remain in office to challenge it in court.
Nwajiuba said, “The resignation of a minister or anybody who is in office is guided by the constitution to contest elections.
“We are required to contest elections if we want, required to resign 30 days before the election we wish to contest in. That’s the position of the law. Any other person can have an opinion. My position is that the law of the country rests on the grundnorm called the constitution.
“If you do not like the constitution, your work is to amend it. There is no subrogation of power that is required for you to include into a law what is not deemed as included in that law. If you’re in doubt I’ll remind you about Kayode Fayemi. He was in government up till the day he contested in the primary and started his campaign and 30 days to his election he called the federal executive cabinet, and said ‘I am now meeting the requirements of law by resigning.”
Similarly, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, maintained that he would not resign in order to pursue his Presidential ambition.
Ngige also said he was oblivious of a directive by the All Progressives Congress for political appointees to resign.
According to him, since the March 18 judgment of the Federal High Court in Umuahia struck out section 84(12) of the recently signed Electoral Act 2022, he is under no pressure to resign.
“I’ll be guided by the letters and spirit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That aspect of the law enacted by the National Assembly, via the Electoral Act, Section 84(12) has been struck down by a court of law and the cases are on appeal. And for now, no matter how bad the judgment is, that’s the maximum jurisprudence. No matter how bad the law is, it is a judgment of the court, it should be obeyed, until upturned or stayed.
“But there is no stay, there’s no atonement of that particular pronouncement, and the party is on appeal. So the judgment is still subsisting. That aspect of the law was injurious to some persons and should not have been there.
“I also know that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in sections 107, 137 and 88, prescribes disqualification clauses for people who are going for election and that prescription is supreme because it’s in the constitution and the constitution is the grundnorm of all laws,” he said.
