Senator Dino Melaye has hit out at Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, over his recent criticism of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Keyamo, while speaking on Channels TV on Friday, lambasted Atiku and condemned his presidential ambition.
The Minister said in the interview that the former vice-president has nothing to offer Nigeria, stating that the PDP candidate lacks capacity to rule Nigeria as a president.
According to Keyamo, the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, is far better than Atiku in terms of capacity and experience.
Reacting, Dino who was angered by Keyamo’s assertions, said the Minister lacks the moral bearings to attack Atiku.
Dino, a former PDP governorship aspirant in Kogi State and currently the spokesperson for Atiku’s 2023 presidential campaign, countered Keyamo, saying anyone who has served as Vice President is fit for the number one position.
In a video published on his social media handles, Dino challenged the minister to a debate where he vowed to breaking him (Keyamo) into pieces.
He said, “Ask Nigerians today, what portfolio is Keyamo holding? Many will tell you that they don’t even know the ministry he is working in because he is redundant, inactive, and not visible.
“Because he is not known as Minister, he is mistaking his officer as a Minister of State for the office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No Nigerian who is educated, and intellectually okay will abuse the office of the Vice President of Nigeria.
“What Keyamo attacked is not Atiku Abubakar but the office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the number two office in this country.
“Because he has monetized his conscience, that is why he will not understand that the office of Nigerian VP has some ministries, agencies under its direct supervision and oversight.
“That is why he will not know that in the absence of the president, the vice president is the acting president with executive power anytime the president is out of the country. So what he has done is that he has abused the office of Nigerian VP even as a lawyer who should understand the constitutionality of that office.
“Anyone who has been a VP is fit to be a president. Can Keyamo also say that Atiku has not succeeded internationally as a businessman?
“Just because you are acting under ‘sekpe’ or under the influence of marijuana, you just smoke your ganja and you think you can just open your mouth and talk? Because you are defending someone who takes drugs more than food today?
“You are talking rubbish and I am going to challenge you to a debate. Nigerians know who you are, they know that you are a commercialized character, a failed politician.
“I challenge you to a debate and when we sit down, I will break you into pieces”.
