Festus Keyamo, a spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, has stated that the 2009 deal signed by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)-led administration is the reason ASUU is on strike.
Keyamo revealed this in an interview with Trust TV’s Daily Politics, on Monday, August 15, 2022.
He continued by saying that ASUU went on strike 12 times for a total of 900 days between 1999 and 2015; adding that these took place when the PDP turned power over to the ruling APC.
The Minister explained, “The ASUU thing you are talking about. What is the problem of ASUU now? It’s the 2009 agreement signed by PDP government. They signed agreements with ASUU they couldn’t fulfill. We had to inherit those agreements and now struggling to renegotiate those agreements.
“Imagine how irresponsible a government can be when they went into agreements with ASUU and signed conditions that they couldn’t fulfill…
”That is why ASUU is on strike. So, let us tell Nigerians that ASUU is not on strike because APC signed an agreement with them. It was the PDP that signed the agreement.
“We are not shifting blame. We are going to tackle the problem. Between 1999 and 2015 when they handed over to the APC, ASUU was on strike 12 times. I have the statistics amounting to 900 days,” Keyamo noted.
Earlier, Keyamo disclosed that the opposition, which is uneasy ahead of the 2023 election, is behind calls for him to quit as minister after he was named the All Progressives Congress, APC’s presidential candidate’s campaign spokesperson.
The Minister made this assertion, on Sunday, August 15, 2022.
He spoke in the aftermath of growing calls for his resignation due to his role as the APC’s campaign spokesman. Some critics had opined that it is tantamount to a clash of interests due to his ministerial appointment.
Also Read: SERAP seeks extension of voters’ registration to prevent disenfranchisement
However, Keyamo, in a statement, clarified; “My attention has been drawn to a statement by a certain CSO alleging a conflict of interest between my role as a campaign spokesperson and as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“First, without meaning to demean them, these are people fully aligned to opposition parties but disguising as CSOs. We know them. I cannot recall a single statement like this from these people throughout the PDP era when PDP ministers were fully involved in presidential campaign activities.
“For instance, in 2015, my brother, Special Duties Minister, Kabiru Turaki, served as the Deputy Director-General (North) of the PDP/Jonathan Campaign Council. These characters kept mum.
“So, you can be sure that this is PDP speaking through one of their NGOs.
