2023 Presidential Race: Anambra APC Defends Ngige, Urges Party to Address Disquiet

By Olisemeka Sony

The Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has come out in defence of the embattled chieftain and the minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige over his alleged anti-party and anti-Tinubu activities.

Ngige came under barracking from a section of the party leadership over the weekend after he failed to publicly declare support for the presidential candidate of the ruling party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu while fielding questions on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today on Friday night. Ngige’s loyalty to the party came under suspicion when he was quoted as saying that: “My choice will be in the ballot box. On the day of (the) ballot, I will make my choice. I won’t tell Nigerians what I will do secretly”.

The comment credited to Ngige did not go down well with the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Murtala Ajaka who confronted him to make public his inclination or step down from his political appointment. Ajaka lashed out: “It is expected of a serving minister in an APC government to be a trusted apostle of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidency in 2023, who along other party leaders laboured to ensure the enthroment of the same government in 2015 which they are now serving in.

“Chief Ngige and other APC appointees, especially in the federal cabinet should not forget in a hurry that they are holding onto the party’s mandate, hence the need to protect it with whatever it requires, but if they can no longer protect the interest of the APC in public and that of our presidential candidate (Tinubu), I think the honourable thing to do is to step aside from the government formed by the APC,” he said, stressing that if such trend is allowed to continue among the appointees and party leaders, it was capable of generating bad blood among APC rank and file.
While calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his cabinet members to order and obtain their commitments to delivering APC in 2023, Ajaka wondered that “with this type of public comments from a sitting minister in a ruling party who cannot declare on national television his choice of a presidential candidate, how on earth is the party expected to fare in the forthcoming presidential election?

Anambra APC in its official statement, declared that instead of tackling Ngige and others for not publicly declaring support for Tinubu, the party leadership should look inwards, perform self-introspection and fix the cracks within its ranks and file.
The party in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Chief Okelo Madukaife, insisted that Ngige did not err in his comments, but rather gave the party leadership a blueprint for fixing the party’s internal rumpus.

“When Senator Ngige said ‘We have issues, but PDP has double. Ours is just a family matter’, then went ahead to say that ‘ if these issues are addressed, our party will sweep the polls ” he pointed in the direction of hope, in a manner that should make perceptive spokesmen of political parties avoid being hasty to hit the airwaves with hollow pseudo-orders. Instead, it called for thoughtful reflection and internal dialogue, which no political party seeking to retain national power even needs to be told.
Madukaife stressed that the issues rocking the party’s 2023 presidential race pre-date the primaries won by Tinubu and that the decision of the party’s deputy national spokesman to aim an attack on Ngige over his refusal to publicly back the party’s flag bearer smacks of personal vendetta and demanded an apology.
“We respectfully remind Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, that his needless negative reaction, reading malapropic meaning into plain submissions, as reported by Vanguard Newspapers; possibly his first public statement since selection, is a tirade on our leader who, the last we checked, belonged to ALL ORGANS of the party and is therefore reachable by multiple avenues.

“We sadly note that the vitriolic reaction ignored the feats scored in the nucleus of the interview- actions by Buhari Government on academic disruption by academic politicians, and the prospects of complete university autonomy by May 29, 2022, in favour of inexplicable tantrums. This is unacceptable!
“We demand an unreserved apology from Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka and make a considered request of swift actions from the NWC, National Executive Committee (NEC) and all other organs connected with addressing the pockets of disquiet in our great party, ahead of a election in which Sen. Ngige says authoritatively that ‘WE SHALL SWEEP THE POLLS’.
READ FULL STATEMENTS OF ANAMBRA APC BELOW:
NGIGE’S SUBMISSIONS : APC SHOULD LOOK INWARDS
The partisan political side-issues experiencially and Socratesically raised by Sen. Dr. Chris Ngige, Anambra State Leader of APC, in an interview on Channels Television , otherwise focused on the issues around the Appeal Court Order to end ASUU Strike, is a statesmanly call to duty for the National Working Committee (NWC), National Caucus and National Board of Trustees of our great party, not an invitation to be bashed by those who do not share his historical profile in the making of APC.

When Senator Ngige said ‘ We have issues, but PDP has double. Ours is just a family matter ‘, then went ahead to say that ‘ if these issues are addressed, our party will sweep the polls ” he pointed in the direction of hope, in a manner that should make perceptive spokesmen of political parties avoid being hasty to hit the airwaves with hollow pseudo-orders.
Instead, it called for thoughtful reflection and internal dialogue, which no political party seeking to retain national power even needs to be told.

Does anyone need to remind another that after primaries, there must be reconciliations, more so where there already were issues pre-dating the primaries, which denied some chapters participation? How many presidential aspirants are ‘campaigning openly’ for the presidential candidate of APC at the moment? Is Alhaji Ajaka campaigning openly for the presidential candidate? How many members of the NWC are doing so?

We respectfully remind Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, that his needless negative reaction, reading malapropic meaning into plain submissions, as reported by Vanguard Newspapers; possibly his first public statement since selection, is a tirade on our leader who, the last we checked, belonged to ALL ORGANS of the party and is therefore reachable by multiple avenues.
We sadly note that the vitriolic reaction ignored the feats scored in the nucleus of the interview- actions by Buhari Government on academic disruption by academic politicians, and the prospects of complete university autonomy by May 29,2023 , in favour of inexplicable tantrums
This is unacceptable!

We demand an unreserved apology from Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka and make a considered request of swift actions from the NWC, National Executive Committee (NEC) and all other organs connected with addressing the pockets of disquiet in our great party, ahead of an election in which Sen. Ngige says authoritatively that ‘WE SHALL SWEEP THE POLLS’.
For: ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC), ANAMBRA STATE CHAPTER

Okelo Madukaife
State Publicity Secretary

Awka.
October 09,2022