2019 Polls: We Didn’t Endorse Atiku — ASUU.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Thursday, disclaims that it has declared its support for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, saying the union is not in support of any particular political party nor candidate for the forthcoming general elections in the country,.

The union said this in a statement signed by trio of branch chairmen of ASUU, Dr. Joel Okewale, Dr. Olatunji Ettu and Dr. Adebayo Oni, from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye; Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu-ode, and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, respectively.

It said this information became necessary for Nigerians to know and understand how ASUU operates and more importantly to refute an online media report claiming that the union with some other education stakeholders had jointly declared their support for the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to ensure his election in the presidential election slated for next week.

Quoting the title of the report as “#NigeriaDecides: Ogun ASUU, academics pledge support for Atiku,” the trio said there had never been any political gathering anywhere where ASUU or its representatives endorsed any political party nor candidate for elections let alone promised to work, canvass and mobilize for them.

They said apart from that, ASUU as an umbrella body of all lecturers in the public universities in Nigeria does not operate along the state divide and therefore there is nothing like Ogun ASUU as claimed in the report just as there is no ASUU for other states.

According to them, our union has a national charter with branches in universities and therefore the purported “Ogun ASUU” is a fabrication and completely non-existent
While respecting the interest of individual academics and their political leanings, the trio re-emphasised that ASUU had no part in the said meeting nor the purported resolution.