The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has slammed some ministers, adding that they are taking advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s fatherly disposition.
Oshiomhole had urged the Ministers of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige and that of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to inaugurate all boards under their ministries.
In a letter dated July 11, 2018 and addressed to the ministers, the APC chairman warned that they could face party sanctions if they don’t comply with the directive within one week.
Reacting, Ngige had criticised the National Chairman of the APC for asking his ministry to constitute and inaugurate board members of federal agencies and parastatal.
He also insisted that he would not constitute the Board of NSITF within the one week ultimatum given by the party chairman.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa on Monday, Oshiomhole threatened to get ministers who failed to inaugurate boards sacked.
He said if the president decided to condone disrespect for his office, he would not allow any government official to disrespect the party.
Oshiomhole said: “You know, we must return to internal discipline. 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.
“And 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.
“There are no independent candidates in our system. Nobody, I emphasise, no minister is above the party and they have taken undue advantage of the President’s fatherly disposition.”
Oshiomhole said it was the same “green pen” that made them ministers that also appointed the board members that they are refusing to inaugurate.
He said it was illegal for a minister in a democracy to subvert the powers of the boards because the laws establishing the institutions are clear.
