Asked by journalists on Wednesday if he would comply to avoid the hammer of the party, Ngige replied: “How? In a party that we formed and brought them in? The man is talking out of ignorance. I’m not afraid of suspension.”
Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, says Adams Oshimhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was “talking out of ignorance” when threatening to suspend him from the party.
Oshiomhole had earlier written to Ngige asking him to inaugurate all board members appointed under his Ministry but Ngige replied, saying he had inaugurated three boards in the ministry but wasn't in a hurry to inaugurate that of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) because of an alleged N40 billion corruption scandal by the former board.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Oshiomhole then threatened[story_link align="left"]61396[/story_link] to expel the Minister form the party if he fails to constitute and inaugurate the said board.
“If the Minister refuses, we will suspend him from the party,” he said.
We must return to internal discipline. For me, it is the height of mischief for any Minister; you cannot purport to be an Honourable Minister and you act dishonourably. Nobody is greater than the party.
“If the President condones disrespect for his office, I will not condone disrespect for the party. They have taken undue advantage of the President’s fatherly disposition. When we expel the Minister, we will prevail on the President that he can’t keep in his cabinet people who have neither respect for his own decisions nor have respect for the party without which they would not have been Ministers.”
Asked by journalists on Wednesday if he would comply to avoid the hammer of the party, Ngige replied: “How? In a party that we formed and brought them in?
“The man is talking out of ignorance. I’m not afraid of suspension.”