Report on planned handover of federal universities to states misleading – Atiku

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday described as a fake news report on his plan to handover federal universities to state governments if elected the country’s president in 2023.

Atiku had reportedly promised to hand over the federal universities to state governments if elected as president in his address at the 62nd annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.

However, in a statement issued by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the former vice president insisted that the report was a mischievous misrepresentation of what he said at the NBA conference.

The statement read: “We noticed with dismay the mischievous misinterpretation of what the PDP flagbearer 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.

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“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.

“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.”

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