Former Anambra Governor and current Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has stated that he will not resign due to section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act.
The presidential aspirant said that as a public officer, he is not bothered about the section because it does not apply to him.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Ngige said the constitution mandates all public servants to resign one month before the election.
He said: “The constitution is the grand norm – the biggest and heaviest of all the laws. Section 137 has given areas of qualifications for presidential candidates. The constitution says public officers should resign one month before the election.
“The issue now is ‘is the minister a public servant’? Yes, I’m a public servant. Go to schedule 5, you’ll see me listed there – ministers, commissioners, governors, vice-president, president and heads of ministerial bodies.
“They listed all of us and gave certain things you should not do, because as a public officer, you cannot take two jobs that have executive positions and receive salaries on them; you cannot do business or trade or be a contractor; that area says you can only do farming as a public officer, and inhibits me and others from operating foreign accounts. A public officer is a public servant.”
