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| Gov Inuwa Yahaya |
By Williams Ago, Gombe
Gombe State Government has described the State PDP’s alleged support to the ongoing strike action embarked upon by lecturers of the State owned university as the deception of a desperate, lying opposition.
Ismaila Uba Misilli, Director-General, Press Affairs, Government House, Gombe, while reacting to the alleged State PDP's support of the strike action embarked by the Gombe State University (GSU) chapter of ASUU, said the opposition party's tantrums is a false narrative full of distorted facts purposely meant to grossly mislead the public.
Lecturers under the umbrella of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in GSU, embarked on an indefinite strike action early last week over some unpaid welfare benefits that had lasted for some years.
The Gombe State chapter of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in a release made available to newsmen shortly after the commencement of the strike, berated the Inuwa Yahaya led State Government for failing to meet the demands of the lecturers leading to the strike actions amidst other allegations.
But reacting to the PDP's accusations, Governor Inuwa Yahaya's media aide expressed surprise that the PDP had suddenly regained its voice. Misilli said, "After losing its voice for several years because of the good governance and sterling successes recorded by the Inuwa Yahaya administration across all sectors, the PDP has suddenly turned eloquent at the smell of trouble."
He also expressed surprise that the PDP government, which left 950 million naira backlog in Gombe State University staff entitlements, has suddenly taken the garb of a jury, judge and executioner to call for the 'lynching' of the Inuwa Yahaya government that “defrayed liabilities inherited from the reckless past PDP administration.”
He said, “Gombe State Government became deeply disappointed over the decision of the academic staff union to embark on an industrial action without proper warning as required by standard labour and industrial relations process despite ongoing efforts by government to address key demands.”
According to the media aide, while the government respects the right of the union to seek improvement in service conditions, it is important to highlight the steps Governor Inuwa Yahaya has taken to address the welfare of university staff and improve the university's overall condition.
He said, "Since 2019, the government had tackled inherited challenges, including the long-standing issue of delayed monthly subventions, which had led to staff waiting 40 to 60 days for their salaries,” among other things.
He said it was unfortunate that while Government was working to address the imbroglio, the PDP takes the strike action as an opportunity to rile up the people through manufactured lies and half-truths to keep Gombe children at home indefinitely thus, "creating storms out of a tea cup".
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