The Presidency on Thursday has said government appointees who do not resign to pursue their political ambition “would have someone decide for them”.
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said this hours after President Muhammadu Buhari directed members of his cabinet and other government appointees nursing political ambitions ahead of the next election to resign.
“We are dealing with a government policy, a government directive, a circular of the government issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation duly approved by the President [which] clearly states who is to go,” he said in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“So, I think that in a few occupied offices like that, you make the decision by yourself otherwise, someone would decide for you. So, that’s the point.”
READ ALSO: Buhari Orders FEC Members With Political Ambitions To Resign
According to him, the instruction to resign is clear, stressing that they were appointed.
Nine ministers, who are contesting for various positions at national and state levels, are affected by the new directive. Already, some of them have resigned to pursue their political ambitions.
The spokesman’s comment came on the heels of criticisms over the cost of nomination and expression of interest forms for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket.
While he believes aspirants can source money by various means such as donations from their supporters, the presidential aide said it is not the place of the presidency to investigate the sources of funding.
“Now the question is, how do they get 100 million and where did it come from? I think this is a question that should go to each individual aspirant on how they save all this money or how they collect it,” he said.
“For your interest, you know that I have seen someone who was yesterday saying he had quit the race after online contributors gave him up to N83 million. So, it would seem to me that it is not such a difficult task to ask people to donate and then the money comes in as soon as they open their wallets, so that could be their explanation.
“In a few cases, we have seen people come forward to say this is the group that has bought the form, if you like, go and challenge them but that’s their own claim.”
