The All Progressives Congress (APC) youths under the platform of Anambra Progressive Youth Forum have called on the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to resign over the recent protracted strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The youths group made the demand in a statement issued on Thursday, titled: "Immediate Release against the Anti-APC anti-people and disservice of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and his wife, Evelyn Ngige," signed by Flex Johnson Ekan and made available to SaharaReporters.
The statement partly read, "Fellow Nigerians and good people of Anambra State, by way of introduction, the Anambra Progressive Youth Forum is a conglomerate of pro-APC Youth Groups domiciled at Anambra State. The forum served as a unified voice these groups that share and believe in the ideologies of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.
"This forum played a pivotal role in saving the soul of this country from the 16 years of PDP misrule. We are part of the success of APC in both 2015 and 2019 elections, we did our own part and paid our dues and hence have a right to express and hold opinion."
The group said that they were disturbed by the continuous determination of Ngige to sabotage the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that he had taken his game to a whole new dangerous level and had lost bearing.
According to the statement, "Ngige should be held sole responsible for setting Nigerian students against the Buhari and APC administration," adding that he misrepresented the government and became a stumbling block against the speedy and peaceful resolution of ASUU strike.
The statement partly read, "Mr. Chris Ngige despite benefitting from the largesse of the APC has shamelessly refused to support and work for the success of the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
“This in our understanding is either demonstration of lack of confidence in the choice of the party or sheer ingratitude to the Party that rescued him from political oblivion. Mr. Chris Ngige's arrogance and corruption antics seem to flow in his household as his wife, who served as a Permanent Secretary in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service is brazenly corrupt and indicted by the Nigerian police to have contravened the Section 20 (1) of the Public Procurement Act.
"She is known to have boast in several occasions that she is untouchable, married to a Minister and have paid her way for the office she held. This means that the process leading to her appointment as Permanent Secretary is shrouded with bribery, inducement and filled with evil practices which no well intention civil servant will engage himself in except those out to enrich themselves at the detriment of the citizens.
"We demand that Mr. Chris Ngige should henceforth put an end to his shenanigans by resigning his appointment with the Federal Executive Council as he has lost all right to continue occupying such office haven't refuse to identify with the ruling party and the direction of President Muhammadu Buhari on his choice successor, Bola Tinubu, whom the President serve as Chairman of his campaign Council and has been leading the campaign vibrantly since January 9th, 2023.
"That Mr. Chris Ngige should repent his old and deceptive ways by working assiduously to the success of the administration and not be found ridiculing the privilege he enjoys from the President.
"Mr. Chris Ngige should in the interest of the nation to work to resolve all labour disputes that his incompetence had aggravated.
"We demand that the Head of Service should immediately suspend Mrs. Evelyn Ngige from office and investigate the circumstances leading to her appointment, this should be followed with full scale probe into her period in office as a Permanent Secretary as we cannot sure of the deal she entered with the people she always boast of paying her way for the appointment.
"To actualise this, we hereby issue the minister seven-day ultimatum to make a statement and come clean from this allegations, he should henceforth either identify with the APC courtesy of which he is in office or resign this appointment to properly support his candidate Mr. Peter Obi. Let it be known that as devoted members of the APC, we will not fold our arms and allow characters like Ngige rubbish our President and our great party."