A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Tom Ohikere on Saturday took a swipe on the acts of incivility displayed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, during the House of Representatives probe of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSTIF).
He frowned at the minister’s behavior for turning a constitutional oversight function of the national assembly to a joke, instead of focusing on the subject matter, describing Ngige’s action as a show of shame.
Ohikere in a statement in Abuja on Saturday said the theaterical act of the Minister was unbecoming of his office.
The House ad-hoc Committee investigating an alleged breach of a presidential directive by the Minister, had invited him over the suspension of top management and executive committee members of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
An action which was in defiance to presidential directive that bars ministers from sacking heads of agencies.
Apparently uncomfortable by the grilling of Hon. James Falake, a member of the committee, the Minister threw caution to the winds to the chagrin of the committee and resorted to uncivil utterances.
Ohikere alleged that in recent time Ngige and some members of the federal executive council have indulged in acts unbecoming of the status of their offices, a development that run counter of the integrity of Buhari’s administrarion.
Ohikere who was a two time Commissioner for Information in Kogi State berated Ngige for throwing tantrums at the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying “the two do not belong to the same political pedestal.
“Chris Ngige has lost a lot of his electoral battles and so shouldn’t compare himself with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC who had distinguished himself politically, socially and economically but should focus on vindicating himself of the corruption he is been accused of.
“Leadership grooming has been found as the forte of great leaders and statesmen. The prosperity of Tinubu’s idea is his eye for excellence with which he recruits future leaders.
“Ngige has failed to recognise how Tinubu has over the years blended a crop of new leaders who have turned out to become change-agents and drivers in both Lagos State, Nigeria and the world at large. He has allowed his charisma to infect many young people, thereby enhancing the fructification of his ideas in politics and the professions.
“Ngige only mentored Okija Shrine, hence comparing himself with Asiwaju Tinubu is the height of hallucination. He thinks displaying rings round his ten fingers makes him an uncommon Leader?.
“Ngige should check history well before he make utterances, Tinubu emerged the only surviving governor from the platform of Alliance of Democracy (AD), which produced the entire governors of the Southwest geopolitical zone and the expertise he displayed in raising the state’s internally generated revenue to withstand the induced fiscal straightjacket imposed on the state government as punishment for creating an additional 37 Local Government Council Development Centres stands him out from any match.
“Strengthened by that epic political battle, Asiwaju earned his stripes as the Jagaban Borgu and went ahead to do exploits, winning one strategic engagement after another. Through his foresight, three states in the Southwest were recovered into the progressive fold, including Ekiti, Ondo and Osun. What antecedent does Ngige has to compare himself with Asiwaju.
“Chris Ngige is just but a political misfit who only enjoys the ministerial position with impunity without bringing any positive change to table ever since he assumed office as the minister of labour and Employment and should be replaced with a better option,” Ohikere averred.
