The Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has blasted President Muhammadu Buhari’s Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, over his blame of Buhari’s actions on wrong counsel by those surrounding him.
Keyamo had, in a latest interview with the Channels TV, blamed the decision of the President on the cash redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on wrong advice.
But Atiku, through Mr. Phrank Shuaibu, his Special Assistant on Public Communications, asked Keyamo to go ahead and directly criticize Buhari and tender his resignation from the cabinet if he wasn’t pleased with the decision of Mr. President.
He made this known in a press release on Saturday in reaction to Keyamo’s statement against the policy.
Shuaibu said that the right thing for the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to do since he wasn’t comfortable with the actions of his boss was to vacate office in order to distance himself from the actions of the number one citizen of Nigeria.
He expressed wonder over Keyamo’s failure to speak up against the eight-month industrial action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
His words read: “Keyamo should be bold enough to condemn the President and resign just as some ministers usually resign in the United Kingdom when they don’t agree with the Prime Minister’s action.
“If he wants to criticise the President, let him do it boldly with his full chest instead of attacking some unnamed advisers of the President and portraying the President as a helpless old man who does not have a mind of his own. That is a cowardly approach,” Shaibu said.
“To be clear, Festus Keyamo has been the Minister of State for Labour and Employment since 2019. Under the watch of this retired activist and erstwhile rights crusader, ASUU has spent a combined 18 months on strike in 43 months.
“Keyamo never spoke up. In fact, he dumped ASUU at the negotiation table to go and campaign for Bola Tinubu. When he was confronted on national television, he asked parents to go and negotiate with lecturers. Suddenly, he has found his voice because of a cashless policy that will deter his new master from deploying bullion vans on election day.”
He further stated, “Since Keyamo has suddenly rediscovered his conscience ahead of the election, he also ought to resign as the spokesman for Tinubu’s campaign. He can do this in honour of his former mentor, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who first exposed the fraudulent past of Bola Tinubu.
“Is it not the height of hypocrisy for Keyamo, a former prosecutor, to be the image maker for Tinubu who forfeited $460,000 to American authorities after being linked to heroin trafficking?”
