Minister of the Niger Delta, Godswill Akapbio has said that he will not resign his position as minister despite vying for the office of the president in the 2023 presidential election.
Akapbio stated this during an interview on channels Television on Thursday.
According to the Akwa Ibom former governor, only his political party, the All Progressives Congress, APC can make him resign as he stressed that the electoral law doesn’t exist.
He said, “I will only resign before the primaries if the guidelines of the party say I have to resign before the primaries but for now the law does not exist, it has been shut down by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
“Nigeria is not supposed to be a poor country but at the moment is a poor country as a result of a lot of factors; the economy is what it is today because of past administration and COVID-19 and Nigerians should be thankful to this administration because Nigerians are not begging in the streets as it is in other countries.” the APC chieftain said.
Speaking on the N100million naira nomination and expression of interest forms, he said that the fee is very fair. “You see, even in modern democracies like America, it is not the candidate that sends himself into presidential elections; it is the people,” he said.
“So, when you talk about Nigeria, just 100 Nigerians bringing out N1million will give you N100million.”
“I want to think that any serious presidential candidate does not need to go into his bank account and bring out N100m because you are not the person going to vote for yourself,”
“That is provided for even in the Electoral Act that the people should also contribute in order to ensure a very fantastic campaign. So, if the people have your buy-in in your coming into power, then you should also remember that you have an obligation to deliver and to satisfy them.”
“My form was picked up yesterday in Kaduna by a coalition of northern youths who believed in my capacity. The money was contributed through fundraising by the youths over a month ago in Kaduna and over a 100million was raised.”
