Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday directed cabinet ministers to resign if they are willing to stand in next year’s general elections, reported Reuters.
According to Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, President Buhari has given members of the government until May 16 to do so.
“The mandate I have from the president is to announce that all members of the Federal Executive Council contesting for elective office must resign their ministerial cabinet appointments on or before Monday, May 16, 2022,” the Nigerian Information Minister told journalists in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday.
Mohammed said that the directive will not be applicable to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo because he was elected alongside Buhari.
Nigeria will head to the elections in February next year to choose the country’s new president, state governors, senators, and members of the House of Representatives.
Buhari’s directive came after an appeal court sitting in Abuja ruled that a section of the amended electoral act passed this year, was unconstitutional. As per the clause, political appointees at any level are prevented from being “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”.
The appellate court described the provision as unconstitutional because it denied a class of Nigerian citizens their right to participate in elections.
When asked if the directive would also be applicable to other federal appointees outside the cabinet like the central bank governor who is attempting an unprecedented presidential run, Mohammed said only ministers of the administration are asked to resign.
At least five Nigerian cabinet ministers are seeking to succeed Buhari, whose second term in office ends in 2023, as president on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). They include Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Labour Minister Chris Ngige.
