…As KASU students protest over planned school fees hike
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmed el-Rufa’i, has approved the disengagement of 19 political office holders, in the first phase of public servants who will depart the public service, in continuation of rightsizing the workforce.
A statement from Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, issued yesterday, said that affected officials include two Special Advisers, a Deputy Chief of Staff and several Special Assistants, amongst others.
According to the statement, this is the first phase of political appointees to depart the public service during the current rightsizing exercise.
Recall that el’Rufa’i had received knocks for disengaging thousands of civil servants in his rightsizing policy.
The government, however, had defended its policy by saying it would not continue to pay over 80 percent of its allocation from the Federation Account to civil servants and assured that the political appointees will also be affected by the exercise.
The governor, in a tweet, thanked the departing officials for their services to the State and wished them well in their future endeavours.
In another development, the students of Kaduna State University, (KASU), yesterday took to the streets to protest the planned increment of school fees which have allegedly been implemented.
Pictures of students carrying placards have flooded social media, calling on the government to reverse the action.
Recall that the State’s Commissioner of Education, Dr. Shehu Makarfi, who confirmed the tuition fees increase in all the state-owned tertiary institutions in the State, had explained that the decision was to reposition the schools to deliver quality skills and training to solve the 21st-century challenges.
However, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), KASU chapter, has said that 75 percent of the university’s students may drop out of school due to the monumental increase in tuition fees.
Its Chairman, Dr. Peter Adamu, said in a statement in Kaduna, that the students might have to leave because their parents could not afford to pay.
