The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, vowed to hand over Federal Government-owned universities to state governments if he emerges president in 2023.
Atiku stated this while speaking at the ongoing 2022 Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference, Applesbite reports.
The event theme ‘Bold Transitions’ is being held at the Eko Atlantic City in Lagos State and will run until August 26.
Atiku, while addressing lawyers at the event, said, “The only way is to make sure that you make a conducive environment available to both foreign and local investors to participate in our country, whether it is infrastructure, whether it is education, whether it is power.
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“I argued with a university professor from Federal University, Lokoja. He said he read in my policy document that I intended to devolve, in other words, to return education to the states. How dare I do that?
I said, ‘Mr Professor, do you realize that the first set of our universities belongs to the regional governments?’ He said, ‘Yes’. I said who are the successors of the regional government? He said the states.
“I said the children you send to America, to England, who own those universities? Mostly the private sector. So, why is it that you think we cannot do it here? We don’t have the money.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been on strike following the failure of the Federal Government to meet their demands.
