The Gombe State chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned what it described as the failure of the state government’s to address the welfare of workers in the state-owned tertiary institutions
In a statement issued Thursday through its Publicity Secretary, Abdulkadir Ahmad Dukku, the party decried that despite receiving a 14-day ultimatum from the Joint Union of Gombe State Tertiary Institutions (JOUGTIN), the government failed to take action before the ultimatum elapsed
“The PDP holds the Gombe State Government responsible for allowing the situation to escalate, disrupting students’ education and worsening the hardship faced by workers, parents and families,” part of the statement read
The party alleged that the administration of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya neglected the welfare of lecturers, other staff and students, while workers were denied their legitimate entitlements
“Unfortunately, this is the government that gave hundreds of millions of naira to Hausa Singers from another state, in addition to many other properties
“It could be recalled that the PDP at that time condemned that wasteful gesture of the tax payers’ money and till date the government did not come out to defend its action,” the publicity secretary said
According to the PDP, the money donated to Hausa Praise Singers could have solved a good portion of the legitimate demands of the JOUGTIN
The party stated that apart from failure to establish any Higher Institution of learning in the state, Governor Yahaya’s administration is “determined to kill the existing ones established by his predecessors”
The publicity secretary called on the state government to immediately meet with JOUGTIN, present a credible timetable for resolving all verified entitlements, commence payment of outstanding benefits and prevent the warning strike from becoming indefinite
Dukku added that the PDP stands firmly with the affected workers, promising that if elected, it would address all legitimate outstanding entitlements and introduce transparent and sustainable policies to protect workers’ welfare
Our correspondent reports that the JOUGTIN had Wednesday commenced a 14-day warning strike over what it described as the continued non-implementation and non-payment of outstanding staff welfare entitlements by the Gombe State Government
The union said its decision followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum, demanding concrete action from the government to resolve welfare issues affecting staff of public tertiary institutions in the state
Some of the demands include; arrears arising from the 2019 N30,000 minimum wage, 25 and 35 per cent wage awards, non-implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage and outstanding Earned Academic Allowances (EAA)
The affected institutions are; the College of Education (COE), Billiri; Gombe State Polytechnic, Bajoga; College of Health Science and Technology, Kaltungo; and the College of Education and Legal Studies, Nafada