The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, says President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has done well in the last seven years.

Keyamo also said running the ministry and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign neither contravene the law nor affect his ministerial responsibilities.

The minister, who made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, said a minister was once in his shoes under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“This regime has achieved quite a lot, and the achievements are well documented in a 73-page document. We called it a factsheet and commissioned it for this campaign.

“Legislative reforms, such as the Electoral Act amendment bill, affect every sector. We passed that bill and the President signed it to bring about a revolution in the electoral process in Nigeria.

“There is also the Petroleum Industrial Bill that has been on the shelf for a long time before this administration. It became a law in this regime, and this has led to the privatisation of the NNPC. Privatisation does not mean selling it off to individuals. So, there is a difference between Atiku’s plans and the one we did. The government has a substantial interest and ownership in it,” Keyamo said.

The minister added that the APC-led Federal Government also did well on infrastructure, saying: “We have also done well in the area of infrastructure. The railways, airports, and seaports are there for everyone to see.

“We had five ministers of aviation from the South-East. They didn’t touch runways that were bad in the South-East. It was Buhari that shut down Enugu airport and gave it one of the best runways we have in the country.

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“The second Niger Bridge was in a drawing on the table for years. The President had to remove it from the normal budgetary circle and create a special fund for it. If not that, it won’t be completed. By the end of the year, he will be able to inaugurate the project.”

Keyamo further accused the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of working for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said: “Without meaning to demean these civil society organisations, I have noticed some disturbing trends from 2015 till date. It heightened in 2019 when we discovered that many of them worked for the opposition party, disguised as CSOs. We even identified some individuals amongst them who had contested offices before under the Peoples Democratic Party.

“I believe that is a call made by the opposition disguised as CSOs. We didn’t hear any noise when some ministers in the past were part of the campaign councils of the opposition party when they were in power.

“Kabiru Turaki was the Minister of Special Duties at that time but served as the Deputy Director North of the Jonathan Campaign team, among others. I am a member of the All Progressives Congress. The party also takes part of my salary to pay my dues. It is deducted from the source. So I’m entitled to take part in party activities. It could be likened to extracurricular activities.

“There is no conflict of interest because I am not using the ministry resources to run this. Also, Section 84 (12) (of the Electoral Act says public officers should resign when they want to participate in political activities, which include running for office, among others, but the section does not include party activities like this, and my kind of duties are not affected.”

Reacting to claims of their failures by the opposition, Keyamo argued that there was favourable atmosphere for opposition globally due to the economic crisis.

The minister, however, said Nigeria did well to contain inflation and ensure homegrown food sufficiency.

The Star