Kola Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), has said the Federal Government may resolve the ongoing strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) two months before the February election.
Abiola, who spoke with newsmen in Abeokuta, on Saturday, at the funeral service of the late governorship candidate of PRP in Ogun State, Prof David Bamgbose, said he’s out to disrupt the process and win next year’s election.
He said by winning next year’s election, he would have repeated the feat of his father, the late MKO Abiola, during the June 12, 1993, election.
“I am not worried. If they are ready to solve it (strike), they will solve it. Don’t be surprised that two months to the election, they will solve it so that many of you can vote because you would have registered at home. Don’t worry about that.”
Asked if it’s a deliberate act by the FG, he said: “I am not saying it’s deliberate but it is not impossible.”
He applauded the late governorship candidate’s contribution to the development of education in Nigeria and promised to keep his legacies as part of the PRP’s manifesto on education.
He explained that at the age of 28 he led the campaign planning and execution that earned his late father “victory” during the controversial election.
The PRP candidate vowed to adopt grassroots approach and pursue a recruitment drive that “will change the face of politics in Nigeria.”
He said, “I am going to win, Insha Allah. I have no doubt. You see we are always used to having things done in a particular way. We don’t do things in a particular way here. We are out to disrupt the process.
“If we run it the way it is run, we will never win, but if we run it my way, there is no doubt. And that’s what happened in 1992-1993. I ran that election from top to bottom. I did the planning, I did the execution, I did everything. All those jingles, if you remember, I did it.
“I ran that election without the typical way of running an election and we won. It is still the best and freest election today in Nigeria. We are going to do a repeat, but this time, it’s for me.”
He promised free and equitable education for Nigerians at all levels.
Delivering his sermon, an Ibadan-based clergyman, Bishop Samuel Alawode described Bamgbose as an embodiment of talents who he said left the world upon fulfilling God’s purpose for his life.
Alawode asked the congregants not to weep for the dead but for themselves because “life is not about longevity but the fulfilment of God’s purpose on earth.”
