Electoral Act: Malami, Ngige, Amaechi Can Render APC Primary Null And Void – Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday warned political appointees who have 2023 ambitions to resign from their position.

According to Gbajabiamila, the political appointees pose a risk to themselves and their parties if they refuse to resign.

The Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 which was recently signed by the President Muhammadu Buhari states, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

This means political appointees who have ambitions have to resign their appointments before contesting.

The likes of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige have refused to resign despite their ambition.

Gbajabiamila in an interview with Channels TV said some political appointees are adamant to resign before contesting in the 2023 general elections.

The Speaker while speaking on their decision warned that the political appointee can render the primary election of their party null and void.

He said, “There are several mischievous people. Some appointees have resigned their appointments to seek election, while some remain obstinate, for want of a better word.

“Under the amended Act, there is a court decision pending that says there is no provision on this and during our conversation, we have said that the adjudication by the court should not be executed as of yet. Then there has also been an appeal by the National Assembly to set it aside.

“So invariably, it is a personal decision they have to make. Therefore the risk they run at the end of it all, if the court does find that the National Assembly was well within its rights to make such a provision that you are contesting an election while still a political appointee, then you are on a very serious risk of losing your election bid and not only that, you as a person also put the party you belong to at risk.”