Chris Ngige has abandoned his presidential ambition after being told he won’t be returning to the cabinet if he loses the ruling party’s primary.

The labour minister said he met President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday and got clarification that his resignation would mean he would be out of government, which expires next year.

Mr Ngigi had been asked to resign his position as labour minister to concentrate on his presidential ambition. He issued a statement saying he would meet the president to clarify the demand for resignation.

“As a result of this, I will NOT be participating in any of the internal
party processes of the said election, starting with the primary.

“I took this momentous decision firstly in the overall interest of the
nation, in order to enable me concentrate on my job, and assist
the President and the Government, weather the difficult last lap,
in the life of the administration and secondly for other family
reasons.

“I have since communicated this decision to the President and the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Mr Ngige said in a statement this evening.

It remained unclear whether or not the president insisted on his resignation since he had already declared his political ambition before a circular was issued on May 11.