Muhammadu Buhari demands the resignation of presidential candidate ministers

While the legal framework surrounding the candidacy of members of the Nigerian government in the presidential primaries remains unclear, the president has made his decision. Muhammadu Buhari demands that all members of the government who will participate in the primaries resign.

It was a decision that surprised and took several ministers by surprise. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered all ministers wishing to run in the February 2023 presidential election to resign by May 16. The primaries of the presidential election start, in fact, at the end of May. They will be held during the national congresses of political parties or by direct vote for the signatories of the nomination forms. An American-style electoral spectacle, therefore.

If the ability of members of the government to stand for election is a concern, it is mainly because of the new electoral law. Indeed, the revision of the electoral law of February 2022 prohibits "all persons appointed to political office at any level" from being "voting delegate or candidate at any convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of appointment of candidates for any election. A law that the Federal Court ruled unconstitutional, before the Court of Appeal reversed the decision on Wednesday.

An appeal had been filed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, banned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from running under the same law, as well as to prevent any “conduct of partisan politics” by the governor.

So the case was going to go to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Before President Buhari intervened himself, demanding the resignation of all ministers, deputy ministers or other officials appointed before May 16.

Muhammadu Buhari wants to “finish strong and without distractions”

For Ikemesit Effiong, of the political consulting firm SBM Intelligence, this controversy would only be “ political theater ". “Anyway, election law requires cabinet members to resign. Many will comply with the directive (from President Buhari, editor's note), but you can be sure that some will challenge in court, ”assures the specialist.

The real concern for Buhari's ministers is that the controversial law bars them from standing in all elections. With the exception of the Minister of Oil Timpire Sylva, and his counterparts of Transport and Labour, Rotimi Amaechi and Godswill Akpabio, four other ministers have therefore announced their resignation, de facto revealing their electoral ambitions, whether for the legislative elections or the regional ones.

Muhammadu Buhari did not, however, demand the resignation of his vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, who wants to succeed him. Osinbajo was elected at the same time as Buhari.

Nine months from the end of his last term, Muhammadu Buhari will therefore have to appoint a new government, or almost. A source from the Nigerian presidency told The Guardian newspaper that “the president will put in place a new team that will help his government to 'finish strong and without distractions'”.