KADUNA TUITION FEE REVIEW: PDP Slams Uba Sani, Calls For Review Reflective Of Current Economic Hardship In The State

Hon. Hassan Felix Hyat
Chairman, PDP Kaduna State

"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 Sen. Uba Sani to address the myriad of problems being faced by a vast majority of the people of the state." Hyat.

"Reducing a paltry 30% for students of the Kaduna State University, for instance, some of whom pay as high as 300,000 per session, compared to the 27,000 they used to pay before the coming of the APC is too insignificant.

..... Calls for a more meaningful review that will reflect the current economic hardship in the state.

The People's Democratic Party, PDP, Kaduna State chapter has reacted to the recent announcement by the Governor Uba Sani led administration in the state in the reduction of fees in the state-owned tertiary institutions.

The PDP, in a statement personally signed by its chairman, Honourable Hassan Felix Hyat who is also Chairman PDP State Chairmen Forum, stated that its attention 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.

Speaking further, Hyat noted that, "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, Rt. 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.

"This is because, reducing a paltry 30% for students of the Kaduna State University, for instance, some of whom pay as high as 300,000 per session, compared to the 27,000 they used to pay before the coming of the APC is too insignificant, and thus, 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 Sen. Uba Sani to address the myriad of problems being faced by a vast majority of the people of the state.

The action by the governor, today, is, therefore, a confirmation of our long stance that the APC, under Mal. Nasir Elrufai never meant well for our dear state, and hence, call on the present governor to go all the way to reverse other equally anti-people policies of the Elrufa'i years such as 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 sales 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.

In fact, 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. 

We also want to reiterate our party's commitment to restoring education as a universal right and not privilege by guaranteeing both the quality and access to education for all once our mandate is restored by the courts. We assure the people that this will be done. There's simply no other way to go.

We also hope that this development is not a deliberate ploy to divert public attention from the 5 billion naira palliative by the federal government. The PDP will follow up on this 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 as has been the case since 2015 under the APC.