Following a presidential directive to appointees with political ambition to resign before contesting elections, some members of the Governing Boards of agencies under the Ministry of Transportation have sent in their resignation in order to focus on their ambitions for the 2023 elections.
Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki confirmed the development at a media chat in Lagos where she explained that some resignation letters were currently on her table.
Agencies under the ministry include the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The others are Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding of Nigeria (CRFFN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NCS).
Saraki said, “Yes, it’s true that Mr. President asked all political appointees who are interested in elective positions to resign, and I can tell you that some of the member of the Boards of NIMASA and NPA have sent in their resignation letters.
“When next the Governing Boards meet and those members who contested elections for elective positions sit with them, then you can raise these questions again, but to the best of my knowledge, some letters have come in concerning resignation of some members of these Boards.
“I have barely had time to go through some of these letters and other files as I have been in Lagos all through the week inspecting the state of our ports and rail infrastructure. So I might not be able to tell you categorically who has resigned and who has not.”
At the recently concluded parties’ primaries, the Chairman of the NIMASA Governing Board, Asita Honourable, contested and won one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial seats in Rivers state while his counterpart in NPA Governing Board, Akinwunmi Rickets, also contested for senatorial seat in Cross Rivers state but lost.
