I have been rejecting ministerial appointments since 2007 —Ezekwesili

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, says she determined since 2007 that she would never accept a ministerial appointment again.

Ezekwesili said this in a series of tweets on Monday, adding that she had rejected past ministerial appointments.

The former minister’s tweet comes barely two weeks after her former protégé, Japheth Omojuwa, said in an open letter that Ezekwesili was expected to be appointed a minister by the new regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in 2015.

Many Buhari supporters seized the opportunity to lambast Ezekwesili, accusing her of being a Buhari critic because the President failed to appoint her as a minister.

But Ezekwesili, who is the Co-Convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Group, said she found nothing fascinating in being a minister, adding that when she was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the early 2000s, the appointment had put a strain on her family.

The former Vice-President, World Bank Africa Division tweeted, “I keep asking what is it about becoming a minister that these folks find so fascinating, considering the hardship my previous service to Nigeria including as a minister, cost my family and me?

“Finally, I got it. Such an attack is by all those who see public office as a meal. After 2007, I made a decision to never again accept any ministerial appointment in this country. Facts are all around that every time I was offered to be a minister since 2007, I swiftly turned down the offer. I know it kills some of you to accept this but it is what it is.”