-Denies being booed during S’East town hall meeting
Paul Obi in Abuja
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, on Tuesday insisted that the decision to make federal appointments remains the sole prerogative of President Muhammadu Buhari, notwithstanding the condemnation and criticisms trailing such appointments.
Ngige was reported to have been booed and chastised in Enugu during the Town Hall Meeting organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Information.
The minister’s attempt to defend alleged lopsided appointments made so far by Buhari in which the South-east and South-south have been marginalised irked South Easterners who felt rejected in the scheme of things within the present administration.
The frantic effort of Ngige to defend his boss was said to have led to an uproar, booing and total condemnation of the minister, as the audience had assumed that Ngige’s comments insinuate that the Igbos deserved their present predicament owning to the total rejection of APC during the 2015 general elections.
In a statement signed the Deputy Director, Press, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Prince Samuel Olowookere, the ministry “denied media reports that Sen. Chris Ngige was booed at the South East zonal town hall meeting, which held in Enugu yesterday.”
According to Ngige, “the delicate issue of federal appointments will expectedly rattle the wasp’s nest. As a former chief executive of a state in a presidential system, Ngige explained that appointment of personal staff ranging from Chief of Staff, Principal Secretary among others, was the prerogative of the CEO and most often were jobs given to die hard loyalists.”
“The report was a deliberate misrepresentation of a very successful town hall meeting during which Federal Government team took time to explain in-depth to the people of the zone, its challenges and roadmap to rebuilding Nigeria.”
“The minister is a reputable and courageous politician from the zone made no pretences in disclosing the ‘mind,’ the inner workings of the present administration and was also no-holds-barred in defending its actions.
“Of course, the issue of national appointment is such a sensitive one and more often than not, loosen emotions.
“The Igbo is assertive, cognitive, hard working and independent minded. They are republicans! But placed against the unfortunate prevailing ethos of self pity which Ngige severely cautioned against in Enugu, it is not out of place to see some nod against his explanations on the appointments so far made by the President.
“But certainly, he was not booed. The Igbo will disagree but will definitely not heckle at his leader. This is our tradition and is yet to be eroded.”
“The Minister took on cardinal national issues and deconstructed same to his people vis-a-vis the policy and actions of the present administration.
“He spoke of state creation which the people of his zone honestly and justifiably crave, constitutional conferences – Abacha (1995) Obasanjo (2004) Jonathan (2014) their recommendations and handicaps, restructuring and of course, the recipe for the strategic repositioning of the South East zone.”
“He similarly explained that professionalism was the core issue always considered in the appointment of service chiefs. That some disagreed with the Minister’s position on this issue does not in any way translate to being booed. In fact, the President of the Ohaneze Youth Council, Okechukwu Isiguzoro while speaking on behalf of Igbo youths commended Sen. Ngige for his courage and forthrightness in saying the truth as it is to Ndigbo,” the statement added.
