A former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chris Ngige has dissociated himself from a viral campaign poster, connoting his endorsement of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the November 8 Governorship Election in the state, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.
Ngige, a former minister of Labour and Employment, warned the APC candidate to stop using his name to campaign for votes.
In a press statement by his Special Assistant on media, Hyggy Obialo, Ngige, who is a stalwart of the APC in the state, said he has taken a sabbatical from politics and would not want to be associated with any candidate.
The statement, which was endorsed by the former governor disclaimed a recent poster which had his picture alongside those of the APC guber candidate, Ukachukwu and his running mate, Ekwunife, aimed at swaying votes to them from followers of the former governor.
The statement read, “We want to use this medium to inform the general public that neither the consent nor approval of our principal was sought and/or obtained, respectively, before the said publication was disseminated to the general public.
“We, therefore, advise the perpetrators to respect the wishes of our principal, who has indicated in many fora that he is out of partisan politics for now.
“We further wish to inform the general public, that H.E. Sen. (Dr) Chris Nwabueze Ngige is on sabbatical from active partisan politics for now as he is taking his well-deserved rest after 25 years of active partisan politics and public service.”
The News Chronicle reports that Ngige, a former Governor of Anambra State (2003-2006), former Senator who represented Anambra State Central Senatorial District in the 7th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011 – 2015), was also a two term Honorable Minister of Labour and Employment(2015 -2023).
