MPs should not be appointed as ministers – Martin Kpebu

Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has advocated for a repeal of Section 1 of Article 78 of the 1992 Constitution.

The law mandates the president to appoint majority of parliamentarians as ministers, myjoyonline.com has reported.

“The Members of Parliament go to parliament in the hope of being appointed ministers of state because that is where they will make money. So, this is the one we want to amend so that an MP cannot be a minister,” he said.

Martin Kpebu advocated for the repeal during an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on October 3, 2024.

He expressed his support for a constitutional review, highlighting the need that the “constitution needs a lot of heavy substantial amendments.”

The legal practitioner argued that MPs who serve as ministers use their dual roles to exploit money from private institutions that are awarded government contracts.

According to Martin Kpebu, such ministers secure contracts for private institutions for a 10% share of funds received by contractors from the government.

He suggested that the above practice fuels the ambitions of MPs of the government in power to seek for ministerial appointments to gain wealth.

“I hear nowadays it is becoming very clear that they don’t like deputy ministerial appointments because a deputy minister does not have much of a voice, doesn’t get much. Right, so everybody wants to be a minister because that is where when you award contracts you will get 10% or more,” he said.

He further said that Members of Parliament should no longer be appointed as the governing boards of state institutions or organisations.

He alleged that members of the boards of institutions and organisations act as middlemen between the government and private institutions who apply for contracts.

“And number two, a very huge part - an MP cannot be a board member of the state-owned enterprises and institutions. Some of the MPs when they [make] them chairman of let’s say National Petroleum Authority, just [as] board member alone, they become lobbyists for these institutions and that’s how they make money,” Martin Kpebu stated.

Martin Kpebu therefore requested for a repeal of this law, along with others, if the constitution is reviewed.

RAD/AE

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