BY: ABBAS BAMALLI, KATSINA
The Katsina State Government says it did not cut the overhead of the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University (UMYU).
Prof. Abdulhamid Ahmed, the Commissioner for Higher Technical and Vocational Education, said this while briefing newsmen in Katsina on Monday.
Ahmed was reacting to allegations by the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union Universities (ASUU).
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The union had lamented the reduction of the monthly overhead of the university from N16 million to N7 million by the state government.
The ASUU Chairperson of the institution, Murtala Kwara, while briefing journalists recently, said that the institution was faced with severe financial challenges.
The commissioner said that the reduction of the university’s overhead was done about 10 years back, but not by the government of Gov. Dikko Radda.
“Let me inform you, since the inception of this administration, there was never a time that institutions under my office were not paid their overhead.
“I am currently a lecturer in the university, I know what is going on in the institution. The management has never written to us for the upward review of the overhead.
“If they have written, the governor has a listening ear, I believe he’s going to look into the request to find a solution, but they didn’t.
“This university has over 9,000 students, and the management is generating a huge amount of money through registration and other things.
“This is what the ASUU should have done first to find out how the fund is being managed,” he said.
Ahmed said that the government was giving the education sector all the needed attention, therefore, assured to do everything possible to continue to support the university.
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“Secondly, the issue of 25 and 35 per cent salary increment for higher institutions by the federal government.
“I have told them that the governor has sent us a letter regarding the issue, even before they brought their letter on the issue.
“We have written a memo to the governor, and all the institutions have sent the financial implications of the increment if implemented.
“The governor did not say he’s not going to pay, but he’s going to look into that,” he said.
Ahmed said that during the university’s convocation, Radda pledged to offer automatic appointments to first class students, but UMYU management was yet to follow up.