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| Atiku Abubakar. |
We have noticed with dismay the mischievous misinterpretation of what the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, said at the plenary of the 62nd annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association as it relates to education and how to address the crisis in the sector.
For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku did not say that
he will handover Federal Universities to state governments if he is elected
president come February next year.
The report is false, untrue, unfounded and not a
true reflection of what Atiku Abubakar said while responding to a question on
devolution of powers, a key component of his policy framework.
What the PDP presidential candidate referred to was
his plans for a phased devolution of power to the federating units.
The report in some sections of the media is
therefore a misleading and false account of what transpired when the PDP
Presidential candidate fielded questions as a panelist at the opening ceremony
of the NBA conference.
In answering the question posed to him, Atiku
Abubakar merely recalled his engagement with a university professor where he
argued that the United States of America shared similarities with the first set
of universities in Nigeria which belonged to the regional governments and noted
that with proper planning and phased devolution of power, federal universities
that have now become unwieldy could be made to work better under the component
federating units. He also maintained that education would remain in the
concurrent list under his administration when elected.
The report was clearly a misleading one designed to
cast aspersion on the person of the former Vice President and to create an
impression that he will shirk his responsibilities if he is elected president
in the next presidential poll due in February 2023.
We wish to restate Atiku Abubakar’s avowed
commitment to education as a game changer for socio-economic development and
national security. He remains concerned about the prolonged strike by university
teachers and restates his position that under his watch the ASUU-FG imbroglio
will be better managed in the interest of both the students and academic staff.
To underscore his commitment to address the
structural deformities in our system, the former Vice President also disclosed
that he had empanelled a committee of judiciary experts to draft a presidential
position paper which will guide his administration, if elected, from day one,
on the terms and conditions of transfer of power and resources to the other
layers of government aimed at making the federal government leaner and more
effective in its core functions.
We implore media organisations to be wary of
unfounded stories in the course of carrying out their constitutionally
guaranteed responsibility of informing, educating and entertaining the people.
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