Ngige’s loyalty to APC in doubt — he should be sacked, says ex-senator

Ayo Arise, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Chris Ngige should be sacked by the federal government for not publicly endorsing Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling party.

On October 8, Ngige, minister of labour and employment, said he would not disclose his preferred presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.

Ngige said it’s difficult to choose because he is friends with Tinubu and Peter Obi, the Labour Party standard bearer.

Reacting to Ngige’s comments, Arise, a former senator, said the minister’s dilemma calls his loyalty into question.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, Arise said Ngige should be fired.

“You would give it to the south-east that they think that it is their time to produce the president but unfortunately, this has to be done through an election, you can’t just handpick somebody,” he said.

“But as an Igbo person, if his sentiment is with Obi then when you look at it, that questions his loyalty to the party. That’s the way I look at it.

“I’m an APC person, and I would not under any circumstance have any difficulty supporting my candidate unless I move from my party to another one.

“He should be sacked, it’s not a question of whether he should resign. If you’re saying you don’t know (who to support) but you’re benefiting from the party.”