Ngige formally declares presidential bid, says Buhari is misunderstood in south-east

Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, has formally declared his intention to contest the presidency in the 2023 general election.

Ngige declared his intention before a crowd on Tuesday at Alor in Idemili south LGA of Anambra state.

The minister said his experience in public office over the years gives him the capacity to perform well as president.

According to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not failed Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari is greatly misunderstood — especially in the south-east.

“My dear friends, colleagues and comrades, many would wonder that after serving seven years as minister in one of the most difficult ministries of government, in a polity riddled with rising unemployment, bickering and economic disputes between workers and employers, in a famished economy, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige would have asked for a deserved rest,” his media office quoted him as saying.

“Yes, a deserved rest would have been okay for me as a person but the zeal, the burning desire in me to see a prosperous, united and equitable Nigeria, where no man is oppressed, where there is no chasm between the haves and have-not, would not allow me to go home and rest.

“Today, as I sit back to ruminate on the state of our country, I find a country led by a patriot — a good-hearted leader, Muhammadu Buhari — though greatly misunderstood, especially in the south-eastern part of Nigeria.

“Permit me to say that I want to get the nomination of our party and to stand on its manifesto to actualise and execute the programmes of the APC.

“Shall we say the APC as a party and as a government has failed? The answer is a big ‘no’. The three cardinal issues upon which Nigeria gave us a mandate in 2015 are infrastructure/economic development, security and anti-corruption. In properly assessing this government and our programmes, it is important we start from where we met Nigeria in 2015.

“In obedience to your will and results gathered in my consultations, we are going to vie for the post of president of the federal republic of Nigeria.”