Former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode has chided the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for investigating the appointment of the minister of communication and digital economy Isa Pantami as a professor of cybersecurity at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
ASUU had set up a five-man panel to probe the appointment. The panel found that the appointment followed due process.
However, in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, Mr Fani-Kayode stood in Pantami’s defence, saying such appointments should be based on qualification, not prejudice.
“What has Isa Pantami done to ASUU? When will the hatred stop? Is it because he is Muslim? I know Pantami well and he is eminently qualified to be a Professor,” he wrote.
“Let us be guided by love and not hate. Lies, disinformation, prejudice, ignorance and religious bigotry has blinded many in our country.”
Fani-Kayode was critical of Pantami and the Buhari administration before he joined the All Progressives Congress in September.
The ex-minister had in April described Pantami as a “jihadist” following the latter’s pro-Al-Qaeda views.
