Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport

Tag: Festus Keyamo

  • It’s Unconstitutional For Buhari To Appoint Minister of State – Keyamo

    It’s Unconstitutional For Buhari To Appoint Minister of State – Keyamo

    The outgoing Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, Wednesday told President Muhammadu Buhari that it is an aberration to appoint a Minister of State.

    Keyamo stated this in his speech at the valedictory session presided over by President Buhari to mark the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, under his (Buhari) administration, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Minister of State, who thanked President Buhari for enriching his Curriculum Vitae, through the appointment, noted that some other Ministers of State, have been grumbling and unable to be bold and speak out.

    He said it would be difficult to assess the individual performances of the Ministers of State since their discretion was shackled under the discretion of the Ministers as any original ideas developed by a Minister of State are subject to clearance by another colleague in Cabinet before they can sail through for consideration by Council.

    The prepared text reads thus: “Mr. President, you first appointed me as Minister of State in the Ministry Niger Delta Affairs in August, 2019 and you later redeployed me as Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    “Today, I cannot find the words to express the depth of my gratitude to you for finding me worthy, out of over two hundred million Nigerians, to be nominated and subsequently appointed to serve as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. My curriculum vitae has been greatly enhanced – forever.

    “From my very humble beginnings in a small dusty town in Delta State where I was born and raised by my struggling parents, all the way to the Council Chambers at the Presidential Villa where I had the honour and privilege to participate weekly in decision-making for my country in the last four years, it has been like a fairy tale. I give God all the glory.

    “What I am about to say, therefore, is not and should not be construed as an indication of ingratitude. Far from it. What I am about to say is just my own little contribution to our constitutional development as a relatively young democracy and to aid future governments to optimize the performance of those they appoint as Ministers.

    “Mr. President, the concept or designation of “Minister of State” is a constitutional aberration and is practically not working for many so appointed. Successive governments have come and gone and many who were appointed as Ministers of State have not spoken out at a forum such as this because of the risk of sounding ungrateful to the Presidents who appointed them. However, like I said earlier, this is not ingratitude.

    “As a private citizen, I am on record to have gone to court a number of times to challenge unconstitutional acts of governments for the sake of advancing our constitutional democracy, so it will be out of character for me to have gone through government and be carried away by the pomp of public office and forget my role as a member of the Inner Bar and my self-imposed role over the years as a crusader for democracy and constitutionalism.”

    Supporting his position with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Keyamo said, “Mr. President, I crave your indulgence to explain this constitutional conundrum of “Minister of State”. Sections 147 and 148 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), deal with the appointments and responsibilities of Ministers of the Federation. The said sections state as follows:

    Section 147

    “(1) There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

    (2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

    (3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:- provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.”

    Section 148

    “(1) The President may, in his discretion, assign to the Vice-President or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation, including the administration of any department of government.”

    “Furthermore, the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution provides for the Oath of Office to which each Minister must subscribe. There are no different Oaths for “Minister” and “Ministers of State”. They all take the same Oath of Office.

    “In addition to the above, the Ministers-designate appear before the Senate and are grilled and cleared AS MINISTERS, not as Ministers in some instances and Ministers of State in some other instances. It is at the point of assignment of portfolios that successive Presidents then reclassified some as “Ministers of State.”

    He contended that though the President has the constitutional powers to assign portfolio to his appointees, he said that such appointment must be in line with the constitutional provision.

    He said, “Some may want to justify this by saying the President is given the discretion by the Constitution to assign whatever responsibility(ies) he likes to Ministers. Yes, I concede Mr. President can do that, but not by a designation different from that prescribed by the Constitution.

    “Simply put, it is akin to the President assigning responsibilities to the office of the Vice-President and re-designating that office as “Deputy President” under our present Constitution. That is clearly impossible. Why then should that of the Ministers be different?

    “What is more, Ministers are appointed pursuant to Section 147(3) of the 1999 Constitution to represent each State of the Federation. Therefore, Ministers sit in Cabinet as the eye of Mr. President in each State of the Federation. It is therefore against the intendment of the drafters of our Constitution for a representative of a State to be reclassified as against another representative of another State.

    “The Schedules of Duties of Ministers and Ministers of State that intend to cure some of these anomalies hardly help the issues. Firstly, the Schedules of Duties are observed more in breach by the Permanent Secretaries and Directors who really cannot be expected to serve two masters.

    “And in any case, many of the roles of both Ministers are so ambiguous that the bureaucrats would always interpret them to satisfy the ones they see as the “Senior Ministers” or “main Ministers” for fear of being persecuted by them.

    “Secondly, parts of the Schedules of Duties seem to suggest that the Ministers can delegate functions to the Ministers of State. This is a constitutional impossibility. It is only Mr. President that can delegate Presidential powers as one cannot delegate what he does not have (delegatus non potest delegare). In any case, how can someone who took the same Oath of Office with another delegate functions to that other?

    “Thirdly, the Schedules of Duties leave so many gaping holes that bring conflicts between the Ministers and Ministers of State. In addition, the provision that “Ministers of State” cannot present Memos in Council, except with the permission of the Minister, is another anomaly. It means the discretion of the Minister of State is subsumed in the discretion of the Minister, yet both of them represent different States in Cabinet.

    “It also follows that it would be difficult to assess the individual performances of the Ministers of State since their discretion is shackled under the discretion of the Ministers. Original ideas developed by a Minister of State are subject to clearance by another colleague in Cabinet before they can sail through for consideration by Council. The drafters of our Constitution obviously did not intend this.”

    He argued that the unconstitutional development has led to having ministers that are idle or redundant.

    “As a result, many Ministers of State are largely redundant, with many going to the office for symbolic purpose and just to while away the time. Files are passed to them to treat only at the discretion of the other Minister and the Permanent Secretary. Yet, the Ministers of State will receive either praise or condemnation for the successes or failures of such Ministries.

    “I understand that when this practice first surfaced in the First Republic, it was used as a contraption to give a semblance of “Government of National Unity”, when in actual fact no “real power” was ceded to the opposition members co-opted into government who were mostly designated as the Ministers of State, so as to keep them in check under the leadership of the ruling Party’s Ministers.

    “But, over time the custom has come to stay and now it has been established as a norm, even regarding Ministers from the same ruling Party. In fact, one political absurdity that has emerged from this is that some Ministers of State won more votes from their States for the party in power than the “main Minister”.

    On the way forward, he said, “Many Ministerial Retreats have been held to try and resolve the issues between Ministers and Ministers of State. President Obasanjo held four of such Retreats, with the last one holding at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, from 23rd to 25th February, 2001. Yet, the problems persisted.

    “Mr. President, unknown to many successive Presidents and the general public, these conflicts gravely affect the optimal performance of Governments. What is the way forward?

    “Obviously, the argument that two Ministers are cramped into some Ministries in order not to unnecessarily proliferate Ministries and therefore save Government’s money is no longer tenable. This is because Government does not need any extra infrastructure or more money to maintain all Senior 36 Ministers or even a bit more appointed as is now the custom.

    “This is because the present Ministers and Ministers of State have their separate offices, cars, security personnel and personal aides. So, what is the point?

    “There are enough Permanent Secretaries within the system to be assigned to each Minister, or in the least, one Permanent Secretary can serve two Ministers. Since the Schedules of Duties of both Ministers already reflect the broad Mandates of the Ministries, the Ministers can be named in line with those Schedules of Duties, instead of continuing with this unconstitutional arrangement. For instance, there is no reason why we cannot have a Minister of Labour and another Minister of Employment.

    “In my case, whilst the Schedule of my colleague had to do more with Labour and Productivity, mine had to do more with Employment. The Directorates in my Ministry that were under my office would then be fully under the Minister of Employment, without any double loyalty to the Minister of Labour and Productivity.

    “We can also have a Minister of Trade and another Minister of Investment. We can have a Minister of Education (Tertiary) and another Minister of Education (Primary and Secondary); we can have a Minister of Mines and another Minister of Steel; we can have a Minister of Works and another Minister of Housing and so on and so forth.

    “In all of these, no extra infrastructure is needed to sustain this suggested arrangement. The present infrastructure and present personnel in the Ministries can very well sustain it. It will be at no extra cost to government. This is preferable than successive governments continuing with this present unconstitutional arrangement.

    “Finally, I want to place it on record again that Mr. President gave me maximum support as his Minister to function optimally. So, this treatise is not a personal complaint. This is just a respectful recommendation for record purposes and for the sake of posterity. It is also intended to correct an anomaly that has existed for ages.”

  • My Foreign Properties Were Not Acquired With Stolen Funds – Keyamo

    My Foreign Properties Were Not Acquired With Stolen Funds – Keyamo

    The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has provided clarification on a property he was said to have acquired in the United States of America.

    Keyamo, in a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, said he did not acquire the house with stolen funds.

    Recall that the Minister has been trending on social media over the controversial US property.

    But, he has confirmed that the property belongs to him, noting that he acquired it with money he made from legal practice.

    Keyamo said he was only trying to bait the horde of those he called sore losers at the last elections with a video of his vacation in “one of my properties abroad” amid a light workout.

    “They fell so terribly for the bait, they seem to view everyone from their depraved universe and assuming everyone will wallow in the same moral squalor as them.”

    On how he acquired the property, Keyamo said he had, on March 6, 2019, written to the relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of his foreign account(s) and the repatriation of the funds to the country, “being some savings I had made as a private legal practitioner and a property investor over decades.”

    According to Keyamo, the foreign funds were lying in his accounts until he was appointed Minister in 2019.

    He stated, “In 2021, I again wrote to the relevant agencies (by letters dated January 22, 2021), informing them of the movement of those funds out of the country to purchase a property as a better investment decision, instead of the funds lying idly in the account whilst I am in public office.”

    The Minister said he laughed when he saw the trending issues regarding “just one of my properties in the US.”

    He said it was laughable that some people think that he (Keyamo) could not afford such a property after his 30 years of active, high-profile practice of law.

    Keyamo added that he has been underrated because he had chosen to live a simple and modest life and not given to the ostentatious display of wealth.

    He said the building is “about the cheapest of my several properties.”

    Keyamo added that his flourishing and manned law chambers and his real estate investments are still far more financially profitable than serving Nigeria.

    “Ours is a labour of love to my country,” he said.

  • Keyamo petitions DSS, demands Peter Obi’s arrest for alleged incitement

    Keyamo petitions DSS, demands Peter Obi’s arrest for alleged incitement

    Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo SAN has petitioned the State Security Services SSS, demanding the arrest of the Labour Party LP Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates, Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed respectively, for comments he described as incendiary and capable of causing rebellion.

    Keyamo said that since the declaration of the Presidential election results, the duo have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

    Keyamo said, “These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution.

    “In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government.

    “The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr. Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023, it would ‘signal the end of democracy’. Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as ‘unconstitutional’ and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023. ” He continued

    “I also have it on good authority that Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages everyday on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and social unrest.

    “I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals.” he added

  • We Were Mates In Law School, But Not In Politics – Dogara Knocks Keyamo

    We Were Mates In Law School, But Not In Politics – Dogara Knocks Keyamo

    Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has reacted to Festus Keyamo’s description of him as a “political prostitute.”

    He said this in a tweet on Sunday.

    Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, and spokesman for the Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Council, had in a tweet on Sunday morning referred to Dogara as a “political prostitute, wanderer and back-stabber.”

    He was reacting to Dogara’s statement in which he referred to President Muhammadu Buhari’s endorsement of Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, at a campaign in Nasarawa State, as a mockery.

    “My brother and law schoolmate, @YakubDogara, this tweet is beneath you. You are actually pained by the support of PMB for @officialABAT, two leaders who have stayed true to their beliefs and causes, unlike the political prostitute, wanderer & back-stabber that you’ve always been,” Keyamo wrote.

    Responding to the tweet, Dogara said, “My brother, I have a name for you but because it’s not a good one, I won’t say it as a cost of friendship. Yes, we were mates at Law School but I am waiting for you to win a councilorship election first so we can be mates in politics. Learn to punch below your weight category.”

  • Sack Keyamo Now, PDP Tells Buhari

    Sack Keyamo Now, PDP Tells Buhari

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, for allegedly abusing his office.

    Keyamo, the spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, had on January 16 issued a 72-hour ultimatum to anti-graft agencies to arrest and probe the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over alleged corruption cases.

    After the expiration of the ultimatum, Keyamo, last Friday, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking an order compelling the anti-graft agencies to arrest and prosecute Atiku.

    The spokesman for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, said Keyamo was using h…
    [10:33 AM, 1/23/2023] Mr. Sawa: In Ogun, Security Guards Arrest 2 For Kidnapping Herdsman

    Operatives of the Ogun State-owned security outfit, So-Safe Corps, have arrested two suspects for kidnapping a herdsman.

    The corps said it received a distress call on January 20, that a herder, simply identified as Oseni, was kidnapped at Olorunda-Lukosi, Iro in Owode-Egba LGA while grazing his cows.

    The So-Safe spokesman, Moruf Yusuf, on Sunday, told newsmen that the suspects, Mohammed Lawal (20) – a resident of Sharagi area of Karaoke; and Sarafa Asimiu (25) – a resident of Amusa Yusuf house, Oke-Aje, Ibadan,  also dispossessed their victim of the sum of N130,000 and the documents of his motorcycle.

    Yusuf explained that the suspects later demanded N4m as ransom for Oseni.

    He said, “The So-Safe Corps patrol team’s timely response led to the arrest of the suspected kidnappers, while others are at large despite the intensive combing of the location,” noting that they had been handed over to the police.

    He added that the abducted herdsman, who was rescued unhurt, had been handed over to the police.

  • Obi’s Endorsement: Edwin Clark Has Never Supported APC, Says Keyamo

    Obi’s Endorsement: Edwin Clark Has Never Supported APC, Says Keyamo

    Elder statesman Edwin Clark has never supported the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Presidency since 2015 yet the party won, said the spokesperson for the APC 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo.

    Keyamo’s response followed Clark’s endorsement of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the February 25 presidential election.

    Clark, who is the nonagenarian leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), cited Obi’s honesty, trust and transparency when he was governor of Anambra State.

    He also urged him to tackle the issues of the injustices and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region if elected as President.

    Similarly, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, had also backed Obi for President.

    However, Keyamo dismissed Clark’s endorsement of Obi, saying his support of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in 2019 made no difference as he lost the poll.

    “Same thing I said for OBJ that applies to my respected father, Edwin Clark. These are elders who endorsed Atiku Abubakar in 2019. The votes they gave Atiku in 2019, they have carried those votes to Obi. My father, Edwin Clark HAS NEVER SUPPORTED APC for the Presidency since 2015,” the minister tweeted on Tuesday.

  • Why Bola Tinubu not indicted in trending US Court Documents – Keyamo

    Why Bola Tinubu not indicted in trending US Court Documents – Keyamo

    Festus Keyamo, the spokeswoman for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, has denied claims that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the candidate for president of the ruling All Progressives Congress was indicted in the US court documents trending on social media.

    Festus Keyamo, during his interview on Wednesday with Politics Today on Channels Television made this declaration as response to criticism from the PDP and Labour party who claimed that Tinubu was indicted in the US case.

    According to Keyamo, the opposition parties crossed the line when they claimed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was under investigation.

    “There cannot be an indictment if Asiwaju is not a defender or was not a defendant to that case.

    “I repeat it for the umpteenth time, I don’t want to sound like a broken record here. Asiwaju was not a party to that case.

    “It was just an account that was sued not him.

    “It was an account in his name that was sued, so how could you indict him if there was no account?”

    When Keyamo was asked about the number of accounts involved, he said, “10 in three banks.”

    “Not in one person’s name. There were ones linked to his mother.

    “He took responsibility for all of them because they were all Tinubu family.

    “His mother was there, his company was there, his brother was there.

    “At the end of the day, they now pleaded with him that ‘please don’t come against us if it was found that we wrongly seized your accounts in the first place” Keyamo added.

    Keyamo urged the public to examine Paragraph 6 in Page 2 of the Settlement, which was signed by the attorneys.

    He emphasized that the attorneys were pleading with Tinubu not to take the lawsuit against them.

    Keyamo further added that “It was him (Tinubu) giving them indemnity. It was not the other way round by them telling him go and sin no more.

    “He (Tinubu) was the one telling them go and sin no more. The documents are there before Nigerians to read.”

  • 2023: Tinubu Will Be Back In Nigeria In A Couple Of Days’  – Keyamo

    2023: Tinubu Will Be Back In Nigeria In A Couple Of Days’  – Keyamo

    Festus Keyamo says the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu will soon be back in the country. 

    The spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) made the comment on Wednesday following concerns raised about Tinubu’s continued stay in the UK.

    “I know he would be back in a couple of days. I have that information. I don’t know the particular day,” the minister of state for Labour and Employment said on Channels Television’s Politics Today. “I can’t say Friday or Saturday but I know he would be back in a couple of days.”

    Tinubu’s visit to the United Kingdom has made headlines in recent times. Critics claim his absence when political campaigns have kickstarted suggests there might be issues. Others claim the former Lagos State governor is on a medical visit to the UK.

    In the wake of the debates triggered by his absence in the country, Tinubu released a seven-second workout video,  saying he is fit to lead the country contrary to insinuations.

    And when asked if the APC flagbearer is in London on a medical trip, Keyamo said, “I don’t have such information”, maintaining that “I speak for the campaign council and not for the candidate”.

    Keyamo also said Tinubu has nothing to prove about his health. As far as he is concerned, the spotlight on the APC candidate is because the “candidate to beat” for next year’s presidential poll.

    “In my own Twitter post on it, I said we are not trying to prove anything to anybody,” he noted.

    “We are proud that he is the candidate to beat,” Keyamo argued.

    According to him, Tinubu’s absence will not affect the APC campaign, recalling how the party started the campaign in 2019 50 days late.

    “Buhari was around on that occasion. Was it because Buhari was sick that we started 50 or 60 days later? No! We had to properly plan a campaign,” he said.

    “It is not true therefore that we have not kicked off because a candidate is sick and because he is not around. I am only saying that there is a history. So, it is not automatic (for APC to start presidential campaigns).”

  • 2023: APC’s Keyamo Accuse Peter Obi of Planning to fake his Assassination

    2023: APC’s Keyamo Accuse Peter Obi of Planning to fake his Assassination

    The official spokesperson for the ruling All Progressives Congress Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo has alleged that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi is planning to stage-manage a fake assassination attempt on himself.

    Keyamo made the claim in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, September 12. According to Keyamo, Obi has planned to fake his own assassination attempt with hired supporters dressed in APC caps and T-shirts to attack some of his party secretariats.

    The Minister of State for Labour and Employment also accused Obi of circulating a hate-filled video online to denigrate the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    The statement reads;

    “Our attention has been drawn to an offensive, hate-filled video made and circulated by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, in which he accused an amorphous and non-existent “Tinubu’s Group” of spreading a WhatsApp message calling on the Yoruba people not to vote for him. The purported message, according to Mr. Obi, forewarned the Yoruba that a vote for Obi would be a vote for a seaport in South-South and South-East.

    We are also aware that plans are afoot by Mr. Peter Obi to fake an assassination attempt on himself and hire Labour Party boys dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts to attack some Labour Party offices. It is all part of the “US Plan”. It is the first in a series of incendiary actions planned by this ill-prepared but desperate candidate.

    Firstly, we vehemently deny the existence of any of such “Tinubu group” that made and circulated such a message. All groups supporting the APC presidential candidate and his running-mate have clear designations with well-known promoters. In addition, it is only messages released by the APC Presidential Campaign Council that are officially authorised and for which we take responsibility.

    As the takeoff date for campaigns draw closer, Mr. Peter Obi has suddenly realised that Nigerians are beginning to burst his bubbles as his messages are bereft of ideas, depth and clear-cut solutions to our challenges. His messages are only full of false data and highfalutin jargons in what is clearly a disingenuous ruse to distract a scrutiny of his empty records as a Governor of Anambra State and nothing else. Hence, his easy recourse to playing ethnic card and fanning the ember of hate.

    We have in on good authority that part of the “US Strategy” (just like the failed “Dubai Strategy” his former boss and himself adopted in 2019) was to return to the country and spread ethnic hatred amongst the voters and cause chaos, then pose as the victim. They have just begun that plot by orchestrating and circulating the said video.

    We find it utterly disgusting, demeaning and insulting to the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerians for a presidential candidate of the ilk of Peter Obi to make such a video parroting a spurious, unverified and sham message that has the potential of deepening our fault lines as a nation and further promoting ethnic tensions. This is completely unbecoming of a presidential candidate that hopes to unite this country.

    Again, we note that Mr. OBJ’s latest stunt is consistent with what is now widely perceived as his adoption of hate as campaign strategy, having consistently failed to rein in his known and identifiable supporters, mostly domiciled on social media, threatening political opponents with violence and death.

    We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic origins or political divides, to rise up and condemn this tactless tactics and cheap maneuver by a desperate non-starter of a presidential candidate who has decided to resort to crude revisionism, ethnic jingoism and crass insensitivity with a view to whipping up undeserved sentiment to fuel his faltering ambition that is nothing but a flash in a pan. Our advice to Mr. Peter Obi is to quit the race if he has nothing more to tell Nigerians.”

    In a swift reaction, the media aide to the Labour Presidential candidate, Emeka Obasi, described the allegation as fallacious, saying he was surprised it was coming from a personality like Keyamo.

    “It is a fallacy! You media people should also know when you see something fallacious. Does Peter look like someone who pretends or fakes things? What do we gain to start faking assassination attempt? Are they in any way trying to carry out such an attempt and seeking to blame Obi for it? The public deserves to know and that’s why we should put it up in the press.

    Does Keyamo know more than we know and just use this opportunity to cry wolf? What is his plan for uttering this kind of stupid statement? Does he think Obi is part of the Old Order who are always desperate for power? Whenever he says ‘Go and verify’, does it look like scheming?

    But we are aware of what Keyamo has done before. It is not out of place for him to say things like Obi is attempting to fake his assassination attempt? It is a terrible thing to say.”Obasi said

  • PDP Responsible For Current ASUU Strike – Keyamo

    PDP Responsible For Current ASUU Strike – Keyamo

    The spokesperson for the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Festus Keyamo, has said ASUU is on strike because of the 2009 agreement signed by the Peoples Democratic Party-led government.

    Keyamo disclosed this during an interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics on Monday.

    He added that between 1999 and 2015 when the PDP handed over to the ruling APC, ASUU was on strike 12 times, amounting to 900 days.

    “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 and 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.”

    But responding, the spokesperson for the (PDP) presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala, who appeared on Trust TV alongside Keyamo, said during the PDP government when ASUU or any of the labour unions was on strike, there were constructive engagements between the parties.

    He said, “Ask Adams Oshimole who was the Lord Lugard of labour unionism of that time. He was very blunt, strong and constant on that. In all of those periods when they were on strike either by ASUU or any of the labour unions around the time of PDP, there were constructive engagement, which means all parties were honest, realistic. The argument ASUU is making on all occasions when they were on strike this present government shift the goal post.”