By Musa Baba Adamu
The Kaduna State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State can do better by significantly reducing further the tuition fees of public tertiary institutions to reflect the current economic hardship in the state.
PDP chairman in Kaduna State, Felix Hassan Hyat, in a statement on Tuesday said “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kaduna State, has been drawn to the news of the reduction in the tuition fees of public tertiary institutions in the state by the executive Governor, His Excellency, Sen. Uba Sani.
“While our party welcomes the development, which, by the way, is in partial fulfillment of one of the campaign promises of our candidate in the 2023 governorship election in the state, Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, and the party, we, nonetheless, call for a more meaningful review that will reflect the current economic hardship in the state.”
According to the party, reducing a paltry 30 percent for students of the Kaduna State University, some of who pay as high as N300,000 per session, compared to the N27,000 they used to pay before the All Progressives Congress (APC) is too insignificant, saying it makes the tuition fee intervention a mere political gimmick to attract cheap popularity and a ploy to divert the attention of the people from the reality of the failure of Sani’s failure to address the myriad of problems being faced by residents of the state.
The statement added that Sani’s action is proof that the APC under former governor, Nasir El-Rufai, does not mean well for the state.
The party asked the governor to reverse the concentration of appointments and projects within a certain zone or among adherents of the governor’s religion, illegal sack of workers without the payment of their benefits and entitlements, forceful takeover of property of private citizens, the illegal sale of over 4,000 government assets, and the balkanization of the state’s civil service, among others, if he means well for the people of the state.
The statement noted, “The PDP is still very surprised at why this policy somersault on the tuition fees is not preceded or accompanied by a public apology from the governor, having been part and parcel of the decision for the increase in the fees, its staunch defence during the campaigns, and most importantly, for the thousands who either could not enrol or dropped out of school on account of the increment. The PDP demands an immediate audit into the number of students affected in this regard and for them to be readmitted into their various schools and courses without any further delay.”
PDP also said it hopes the development is not a deliberate ploy to divert public attention from the N5billion palliative by the Federal Government, stressing that the opposition party would follow up on the issue to ensure the judicious use of the resources, such that no kobo is diverted to private pockets or that no area is shortchanged in the sharing of the palliatives.
