Phrank Shaibu, Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, has called on Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, to resign from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet if he is dissatisfied with Buhari’s decision to implement the cashless policy.
Shaibu noted this in a statement on Saturday in response to Keyamo’s assertion that President Buhari erred by disobeying a Supreme Court order when he declared that only the old N200 note is legal tender.
Keyamo, a senior advocate, had blamed Buhari’s actions on bad advice from his advisers, adding that Buhari made the decision without consulting the Federal Executive Council.
In response, Shaibu stated that if Keyamo truly believed the President erred, he should resign as minister in order to distance himself from the President’s actions.
Shaibu called Keyamo a hypocrite, noting that Keyamo had previously defended Buhari’s decision to ignore court orders on the grounds of national security.
Shaibu stated, “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.
Shaibu wondered why Keyamo failed to exhibit his activism when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) spent 10 months on strike in 2020 and eight months on strike in 2022.”
He 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.”
Atiku’s aide said that since Keyamo had finally received enlightenment, he also ought to resign as spokesman for the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council.
He said it would be hypocritical of Keyamo, who is a former prosecutor of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to serve as the image maker of Tinubu who is not only under investigation by the EFCC but was made to forfeit $460,000 to American authorities for alleged drug trafficking.
Shaibu 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?”
