Chris Ngige, minister of labour
and employment, says he is not afraid of being suspended by the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC).
He said this in response to the
threat issued by Adams Oshiomhole, chairman of the APC, over the inauguration
of the board members of federal agencies and parastatal under his ministry.
The parastatals and agencies are
the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), National Directorate of
Employment (NDE), National Productivity Centre (NPC), and Michael Imoudu
Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS).
Oshiomhole had threatened to move
against the minister if the inauguration did not take place within a stipulated
period.
The APC chairman said under his
leadership, the party will not tolerate ministers who abuse their office and
disrespect President Muhammadu Buhari by refusing to carry out his directives.
But faulting Oshiomhole’s comment
at Aso Rock on Wednesday, Ngige said the APC chairman was talking out of
ignorance.
He explained that the board of
the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) was yet to be inaugurated because
of reports of alleged diversion of funds to the tune of N48 billion.
When asked if he would comply and
if he was not afraid of suspension from the party, Ngige said, “How? In a party
that we formed and brought them in? The man is talking out of ignorance. I’m
not afraid of suspension.”
Ngige had earlier written to
Oshiomhole over the issue
He said: “Our national chairman,
I am in receipt of a letter referenced APC/NHDQ/ GEN-S/28/018/003 dated July
11, 2018, which was sent from your office and received by me on July 12, 2018.
Ordinarily, I would not believe the letter was from you except for the barrage
of media statements that came before I saw the letter. I read the contents of
this letter with both amazement and utter disbelief.”
The minister said he had
reconstituted three boards out of the four agencies and parastatals under his
ministry, but has not been able to constitute the board of NSITF because of
cases of financial malfeasance, which have put the agency under investigation
by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
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