ASUU strike: Ngige, Nwajiuba’s presidential declaration very shameful – CISLAC

The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, has described as “shameful” the declaration by both the Ministers of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, to contest the 2023 presidential election.

He said their declarations were shameful in respect to their alleged failures in handling the challenges in the education sector that had led to a protracted strike embarked on by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The ASUU rollover strike is in its 10th week and will end in two weeks.

The PUNCH reports that Nwajiuba, Wednesday in Abuja, became the first of many aspirants to obtain copies of the Nomination and Expression of Interest forms to vie for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress.

Also, Ngige had on April 18 joined the race for the presidential seat. The minister said he budgeted N50m for the procurement of the nomination and declaration of interest forms of the APC to contest the presidential election.

Ngige said now that the APC had hiked the price tag to N100m, his supporters would support him financially.

But reacting to the development in a telephone chat with our correspondent on Thursday, Rafsanjani, who is also the Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group, said it was imperative for Ngige and Nwajiuba to tell Nigerians what they seek to contribute positively with their track records as ministers.

He said, “With regards to the ministers, particularly the Minister of State for Education, he should tell Nigerians what it is he is looking for? if they can not manage the education sector, how will they manage the nation? The minister should have asked himself what he has done to improve the country’s education sector.

“Is the visible failings in the sector not a stain on his name? With the current state of the sector, it shows that he cannot achieve anything at the center if he eventually becomes the president.

“His immediate work as a minister of education has not shown that he has what it takes. If he cannot, along with the other minister, run the ministry of education effectively and efficiently, what is he looking for?

“Students are on strike but the political class children are in schools abroad and their education is funded by public taxpayers’ money which may have probably been taken. Some of these people are not fit to run for any public office again because as we have seen they cannot manage their present assigned tasks.

Asked if the same goes for Ngige who has also declared his intention to succeed Buhari, Rafsanjani said, “Yes of course. All of them. In fact, is it not funny that it is ministers who have failed in their ministries and failed to discharge their responsibilities in the public eye are the ones coming out to declare interest and even buying forms in their bid to replace the President in 2023?