The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), has commended the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on his threat to expel two ministers from the party over their reluctance to constitute the boards of parastatals under their ministries.
The affected ministers are those of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, and Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
A statement signed by the Coordinator, Media and Publications, Otunuga Adegboyega, quoting the Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran as saying: “It is high time we encouraged internal party discipline in order to consolidate our democratic culture and promote greater accountability and openness in governance.
“Is it not ridiculous that a minister would refuse to inaugurate the board of a federal parastatal for several months under the flimsy excuse that the former board’s leadership was corrupt and had a case to answer? Don’t we have anti-graft agencies of government that should be invited to look into such cases, while the new board is constituted for smooth and efficient running of government?
“As Oshiomhole rightly noted, ‘There are clear procedures to follow in a democracy. It is absolutely illegal for a minister in a democracy to hijack the powers of the board because no minister should award contracts that did not go through the boards. Such acts constitute abuse of office for which those responsible should be held liable’.
“This dictatorial tendency is what has alienated the masses from the efforts of the government at different levels. There are competent Nigerians that have paid their dues, both to the party and the nation, that should be in those parastatals and make things work better for the nation.
“The pertinent question that has arisen from this is, would it be right for Ngige and Sirika to block access to board appointments based on their own whims or could they come out clean and respond to insinuations that contracts are being awarded in these public parastatals without following due process?”
The CACOL boss added: “The parastatals and agencies in question are said to be, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF); National Directorate of Employment (NDE); National Productivity Centre (NPC) and the Michael Imoudu Institute for Labour Studies (MIILS). From close observation, these are very important parastatals whose inactivity could negatively affect the lives of Nigerians.
“We therefore call on Dr. Chris Ngige and Hadi Sirika, to constitute those boards to encourage internal party decorum. In a similar vein, we applaud Oshiomhole’s readiness to resuscitate party discipline amongst its top echelon while we recommend the same spirit to be embraced by the opposition as a means of evolving our democracy to a higher level.”
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