Pressure is mounting on the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi to resign following his formal declaration for the 2023 presidential race.
His party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that all its members currently holding political appointments and seeking participation in the party’s forthcoming primaries must quit their positions in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Section 84 (12) of the Act states that political appointees, including ministers/commissioners and special advisers, should quit their current positions to be eligible to participate either as delegates or contestants at the convention of their political parties.
Many of such appointees at the state level have resigned accordingly with the June 3 cut-off date set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the parties to complete their primaries fast approaching.
National Publicity Secretary to the APC, Barrister Felix Morka, told reporters yesterday that the party would ensure that all political appointees in APC wishing to contest the 2023 elections comply with Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act.
Amaechi is the only member of the federal cabinet who has publicly declared his interest in the APC presidential primaries so far. He is yet to resign a week after his declaration.
“The position of the party is consistent with the Electoral Act. We are allowing our affected members who may have the intention of contesting the primaries to comply with the Electoral Act as provided,” Morka said yesterday.
He added: “The party will simply follow the Electoral Act. Any member of the party who is in an appointive position, we will expect such individuals to resign before our primaries.
“We are hopeful that they will comply at the right time and we are going to ensure that anyone seeking our ticket will not breach the Electoral Act.”
