The Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh has announced his withdrawal from the Kaduna governorship race.
SHIPS & PORTS reported on March 2 that due to the provision of Section 84(12) of the new Electoral Act barring political appointees from voting or being voted for at party primaries, Jamoh must relinquish his position at NIMASA by end of May if he desired to contest the governorship election.
Also, President Muhammadu Buhari last week ordered all political appointees including Ministers, Ambassadors and heads of agencies interested in participating in the 2023 general election to resign on or before May 16.
SHIPS & PORTS reportedly exclusively last week that Jamoh had spent a lot of money and time in Kaduna seeking support for his governorship ambition even though the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state had decided to field Senator Uba Sani as its consensus candidate. On May 9, he paid N50 million to procure the APC governorship expression of interest and nomination forms.
However, in a post by his media team led by one Saminu Madaki, Jamoh ascribed his resignation to “personal reasons”.
“Today the 15th May 2022, our principal Dr. Bashir Jamoh held a meeting with his campaign council and other top officials in the movement. Then he officially announced that he personally stepped down for the governorship race in Kaduna state due to some personal reasons which is for his own good and the entire people of Kaduna state (sic)”.
It is not clear what the position of the Federal Government will be on Jamoh’s fate as Rotimi Amaechi steps down as Transport Minister today. Some analysts and civil society groups insist that all political appointees who have purchased party nomination forms must be compelled to resign their appointments irrespective of the decision to continue with their political pursuits or not.
Other political appointees who have decided to shelve their political ambitions after the president’s resignation order include Abubakar Malami (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federal), Dr. Chris Ngige (Minister of Labour andProductivity) and Mrs Pauline Tallen (Minister of Women Affairs).
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said President Buhari will take a decision on the fate of political appointees who made the U-turn.
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