Kaduna PDP demands more reduction of state varsity tuition fees

To reflect the current economic difficulties in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State has asked for a more significant cut in tuition rates of public tertiary institutions.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, PDP Kaduna State Chairman Felix Hassan Hyat 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 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,” they write, “we, nonetheless, call for a more meaningful review that will reflect the current economic hardship in the state.”

The party claims that the tuition fee intervention is nothing more than a political gimmick to attract cheap popularity and a ploy to divert people’s attention from the reality of Sani’s failure to address the myriad omissions in his administration, such as the fact that some students at Kaduna State University pay as much as N300,000 per session compared to the N27,000 they used to pay before the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the statement, Sani’s behavior demonstrates that the APC led by ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai is out to harm the state’s interests.

If the governor truly cares about the people of the state, he will undo some of his policies, including the concentration of appointments and projects within a certain zone or among adherents of the governor’s religion; the illegal sacking of workers without the payment of their benefits and entitlements; the 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.

To paraphrase from the statement: “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 defense during the campaigns, and most importantly, for the thousands who either could not enrol or dropped out of school due to the increment.” The PDP has called for an investigation into how many students have been affected and for those students to be immediately readmitted to their original educational institutions.

The PDP also expressed its hope that this was not a ploy to deflect public attention away from the N5 billion palliative provided by the Federal Government and promised to keep an eye on the situation to make sure that not a single penny of the relief funds was misused.