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Tag: el-Rufai

  • No going back on workers’ sack – El-Rufai

    No going back on workers’ sack – El-Rufai

    The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, insisted on Friday that there is no going back on the sack of teachers and other workers in the state.

    The governor said the state government has already made provisions for their severance package.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after seven Northern governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari after the Friday Juma’at service at the State House Mosque, Abuja.

    The governors who met President Buhari behind closed-door were – Abubakar Bello (Niger), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Jibrilla Bindo (Adamawa) and Simeon Lalong (Plateau).

    He said: “There is nothing to step back on. It’s a well thought out position we took one and half years before we made the decision and we will not change it.

    “We have announced that in line with the public service rule, we will pay three- month severance pay and we have provided incentives for those that are retiring to go through the retirement training.

    “Those that are interested in farming we have the reserve land available and for those that want to go into trade, we have micro credit to support them. But if they are not suitable as teachers they can do other things and the government will do other things to support them.”

    On allegations that he directed police to stop workers marching to government house on Thursday to protest the alleged sack of about 21,000 teachers in the state, the governor said the right to protest was guaranteed in the constitution and that he was not in the state that day.

    He added: “I did not direct the police to stop the workers, I was not even in Kaduna. For me the right to protest is guaranteed in the constitution provided you don’t go violent and you don’t violate any laws.

    “I think the concerns of the police are because the precarious situation in the country particularly in Kaduna made it unsuitable to have such protest. And the last time they did such a thing they attacked the State House of Assembly.”

     

  • Teachers’ sack: ‘El-Rufai frustrating peace efforts’

    Teachers’ sack: ‘El-Rufai frustrating peace efforts’

    •NLC plans mass protest in Kaduna
    •’Send your wards to school’

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of frustrating efforts at resolving the crisis following the sack of 21,780 primary school teachers.

    NLC President Ayuba Wabba told a news conference in Abuja that the reconciliatory process, initiated by the minister of Labour, failed because the government did not report back to the meeting after it was adjourned to allow its team consult with the governor on the next line of action.

    Wabba said labour and its social partners have concluded plans to begin a series of actions, with the first protest to hold in Kaduna tomorrow.

    The NLC boss called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and call the governor to order. According to him, no country can survive impunity.

    His words: “A process of reconciliation and engagement was initiated by the Minister of Labour – two meetings were held and the governor himself attended the first meeting. We were there with the NUT, and during the second meeting, we advanced some recommendations and suggestions.

    “The second meeting was adjourned when the government team said they wanted to consult with the governor and get back to the meeting but they never came back with any recommendation, or to even react to the recommendations which were adopted at the end of the meeting. Rather, what we saw was the distribution of letters of disengagement. “Beyond that, this issue was taken to the National Industrial Court and the process of the court was served on the government.

    “An injunction was granted by the court that all processes regarding the sack of the teachers be put on hold until the case is determined. But on January 3, they started distributing letters of sack to the teachers.

    “So clearly, there is a violation of the provisions of the Constitution and the rule of law. We cannot run a country on impunity. That is the process of engagement that has gone in, but has yielded no result because at the end of the day, the Kaduna State government has not respected this clear provision of the Constitution and our Labour laws.

    “Under the law, all parties should respect the process, but it is obvious that only the workers have respected the process, and given ourselves to the reconciliation process.

    “Strike is not illegal in Nigeria, especially having served the necessary notice. It is apparent that El-Rufai’s approach is a clear violation and abuse of the tenets and provisions of our labour laws and well known international best practices, and are capable of exacerbating social tensions and societal ills in the state.

    “Having exhausted all processes aimed at constructive engagement with the state government, it is clear that El-Rufai has to be stopped by all means, with all means lawful for the sake of Kaduna State and Nigerian people.

    “Consequently, we shall begin a series of actions, with the first phase of protests in Kaduna tomorrow, to constitutionally defend the rights of the affected workers.”

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai has urged parents and guardians to send their children to school irrespective of the strike, saying second term has resumed and teachers are ready to teach.

    Addressing a news conference yesterday, El-Rufai said the strike was aimed at scuttling the ongoing education reforms. He added that the scripts of the 43,000 candidates, who applied for teaching jobs, has been marked and the result of the 25,000 to be recruited would soon be released.

    The governor, who spoke through the Permanent Member in the state’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Shehu Sani Othman, said the government has opened attendance registers in schools to check absentee teachers.

  • El-Rufai pardons 10 prisoners

    El-Rufai pardons 10 prisoners

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has granted clemency to 10 prisoners in the state and approved their immediate release.

    The governor also granted pardon to Capt. Idris Mohammed, a retired soldier, who completed his prison term in 1985.

    El-Rufa’i in a statement said the gesture was to extend compassion to deserving prisoners during New Year.

    The statement said the governor’s action was based on the recommendations of the Kaduna State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy and in line with the provisions of Section 212 of the Constitution.

    The 10 prisoners were serving jail terms ranging from three to six years, with less than six months left to complete their terms.

    Those granted pardoned for their good behavior were – Habibu Iliyasu, Ibrahim Mohammed, Ibrahim Auwalu, Abubakar Abdullahi and Shehu Usman.

    Others were – Ibrahim Stephen, Saidu Idris, Ashimu Danmutuwa, Kabiru Mohammed and Aliyu Yusuf.

    NAN

  • El-Rufai pardons 10 prisoners, ex-convict

    El-Rufai pardons 10 prisoners, ex-convict

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has granted clemency to 10 prisoners and approved their immediate release.

    The governor also pardoned Capt. Idris S. Mohammed (rtd), a former soldier and ex-convict, who served his term in 1985.

    El-Rufai’s action is based on the recommendations of the Kaduna State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, and to celebrate the New Year.

    The governor said it is customary to show compassion to deserving prisoners during New Year celebrations, adding that he was exercising the powers conferred upon him by Section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), to order the immediate release of the inmates and pardon Capt. Idris S. Mohammed (rtd).

    The prisoners were serving jail terms ranging from three to six years, with less than six months left to complete their terms. Those pardoned for good behaviour are: Habibu Iliyasu, Ibrahim Mohammed, Ibrahim Auwalu, Abubakar Abdullahi, Shehu Usman, Ibrahim Stephen, Saidu Idris, Ashimu Danmutuwa, Kabiru Mohammed and Aliyu Yusuf.

    El-Rufai also approved the recommendation to pardon Capt. Idris Mohammed to remove the stigma of an ex-convict from him.

  • Why we sacked 22,000 teachers, by El-Rufai

    Why we sacked 22,000 teachers, by El-Rufai

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said the government sacked over 22,000 teachers because they were unqualified for the job.

    According to him, sacking of incompetent teachers predated his administration, as previous governments sacked teachers with fake qualifications.

    He noted that the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) report he received on assumption of office, showed that 83 per cent of the teachers scored less than 25 per cent in Maths and literacy exams.

    The governor, who spoke in a broadcast, recalled that the government of Sir Patrick Yakowa dismissed 4,000 teachers with fake results.

    According to him, the Yakowa-led government responded to reports that 50 per cent of primary school teachers were unqualified by giving such teachers a five-year deadline to acquire the appropriate qualifications.

    “The Kaduna State Executive Council, at its August 8, 2012 meeting, after considering the report of the verification committee, gave a five-year window for under-qualified teachers to acquire the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE).

    “This five-year grace period has now expired, and that is why this administration weeded out teachers who didn’t have the requisite skills and qualifications to teach,” he said.

    El-Rufai recalled that the 2015 ESSPIN report on pupil and teacher competence levels showed that 83 per cent of the teachers scored less than 25 per cent in Maths and literacy exams.

    Primary two pupils scored an average of 14 per cent in English and 27 per cent in Maths, while primary four pupils scored an average of 13 per cent in English and 17 per cent in Numeracy.

    The governor added: “the government responded to this report by getting the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to conduct a survey of teacher competence. We took further steps to address these gaps by training and retraining the teachers.”

    According to him, 11,315 classroom teachers were trained in Literacy and Numeracy through SUBEB, and another 3,733 were trained in reading skills through the Global Partnership for Education. UBEC trained 5,945 teachers in Pedagogy, Lesson Plans and use of Teachers’ Guides.

    On June 3, 2017, the government conducted a competency test for primary school teachers. This test assessed their literacy and numeracy levels through a primary four test.

    The government considered giving teachers a 75 per cent threshold for a primary four test an extremely generous decision, he added.

    El-Rufai said the government seeks to hire 25,000 teachers to replace the disengaged 22,000, and eligible applicants have already applied.

  • El-Rufai to court: 21,780 teachers already sacked

    El-Rufai to court: 21,780 teachers already sacked

    •Governor vows not to steal money to campaign

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said the ruling of the Industrial Court, asking his government to stop the sack of 21,780 primary school teachers, pending the determination of the case, was too late.

    He said the teachers were sacked on November 5.

    El-Rufai, in an interview on a radio programme at the weekend, vowed not to steal to prosecute his second term ambition.

    The governor said those who took the matter to court probably didn’t tell the court about the status of the teachers.

    According to him, his government sacked the teachers on November 5, adding that the government may listen to the judgment on the substantive suit.

    Asked whether the court served the government the interlocutory ruling, El-Rufai said: “We have only read in the newspapers that the court has asked us to stop the sack, but they had been sacked before that ruling. Maybe those who took the matter to the court didn’t tell the court that.

    “For us, we are only working on their entitlements. So, what we can listen to from the court is its judgement on the matter, which will determine whether their sack is right or wrong. But our lawyers will go to the court and argue our case.”

    The governor said those opposing the sack were playing politics with the future of children of the common man, adding that their children don’t attend public schools.

    He, however, vowed to keep his promise to enroll hi son in a public school.

  • Open letter to El-Rufai

    SIR: Leadership across space and time has always been an onerous task. It is like a stimulating factor. To some, it brings their worst to the fore while for others, it is an avenue to flaunt their dexterity. However, great leaders always strive in the steam of tribulations to carve a niche for themselves that would stand the test of time.

    For a start, your educational revamp or revolution has, and, continues to spark controversies in various quarters. Sometimes back, the news of a large scale sack of teachers that failed the competency test dominated the public agenda, throwing forth various shades of opinion by stakeholders in the educational sector. Debatable it remains even among a host of my colleagues. So many tantrums, aspersions and vituperations have been lashed at your decision. Unsurprisingly also, some encouraging comments have been registered to the default.

    While a good number of my aggrieved colleagues express bitterness and disappointment over your decision, I prefer to look at things from the larger picture. For me, the positives far outweigh and dwarf the negatives in this regards. I do feel for the affected teachers that appear imminent to lose their jobs. I, however, feel happy for the students that have long borne the brunt of bad teaching.

    I personally cannot sacrifice the future of these kids on the premise of letting inept people stick to their jobs. It is about time able persons are deployed to save the system from tragic demise. When you educate a child, you contribute your quota to a nation’s development. Within this purview, you kill a nation by stifling the child from good education as incompetent students rarely affect the nation positively, both in terms of growth and development. So, yes, I do strongly believe there is no moral justification for letting the teachers maintain their jobs in order to massage the unfruitful status quo.

    The North is unequivocally backwards in western education. As a matter of truth, our backwardness enjoys monopoly! The systemic rot stems from the primary level and spreads through to the secondary and, perhaps, a little bit beyond. The worst is the massive ineptitude grossly displayed by the teachers at the primary level. A little walk through the schools located in the rural parts of Kaduna State will leave you in tears. Kindly take a stroll to one of the government schools in the rural areas; I guarantee you a firsthand experience that would leave you sleepless for weeks, maybe months.

    I do believe you are going through hard times with your revolutionary scheme. Here is some good news. It is already bearing fruition. The discipline is beginning to return them to their sense of responsibilities which had long been thrown to the cesspit. I am sure posterity will live to applaud you simply because you didn’t chicken out of your revolutionary train despite the opposition. Instead, you have expedited the movement on the desired speed.

     

    • Ibrahim Yahaya,

    G.S.S. Jere, Kaduna State.

  • Court stops El-Rufai from sacking 21,780 teachers

    Court stops El-Rufai from sacking 21,780 teachers

    The Kaduna Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria yesterday ordered the Kaduna State government to stop the proposed sack of 21,780 primary school teachers who failed its competency test, pending court injunction.

    The teachers, in October, sued the government at the industrial court, asking it to restrain the government from dismissing or disengaging any teacher on the basis of the test conducted in June.

    The teachers’ lawyer, Samuel Atum, also filed a motion of “interlocutory injunction”, seeking a stay of action, pending the outcome of the suit.

    Justice Lawal Mani granted the application, pending the determination of the substantive suit and adjourned the matter till February 6, 2018.

    Addressing reporter after the judgment, Atum hailed the court for granting the teachers’ prayers.

    He said: “I have confidence that the government will comply and obey this order. This is democracy and the premise of democracy is the rule of law. So, we expect nothing more than absolute submission by the state government to comply with the order of the court.”

    The lawyers representing the Attorney General and the state government as well as the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) declined comments.

  • El-Rufai signs N216bn, 2018 budget into law

    El-Rufai signs N216bn, 2018 budget into law

    Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has signed the N216.55 billion, 2018 budget passed by the State House of Assembly into law.

    The budget is made up of N131.1 billion capital expenditure and N85.44 billion recurrent expenditure.

    El-Rufai signed the budget at a ceremony at the Government House in Kaduna on Tuesday.

    “We have deliberately tagged it as Budget of Consolidation, because it is the last full annual budget before the 2019 election,’’ he said.

    He said the budget was designed “to complete many projects we have commenced in the service of our people”.

    “As I said while presenting the budget, we have published a record number of tenders as we try to achieve the goals outlined in our manifesto, these tenders have led to the commencement of many projects across the state.

    “We have looked at inherited projects that we considered feasible and viable, some of these have been completed, but others are at various stages of completion,’’ El Rufai said.

    The State House of Assembly had passed the N216 billion budget into law with an increase of N100 million.

    Read Also: Anyone standing to challenge Buhari is wasting his time – El-rufai

  • El-Rufai signs N216b budget

    El-Rufai signs N216b budget

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has signed the N216.55 billion “budget of consolidation” for 2018 into law.

    He said his government was shedding weight to ensure public resources are fully devoted to providing public goods to benefit the people.

    The governor said N131.1 billion is for Capital Expenditure, representing 60.54 per cent of the budget, while N85.44 billion is voted for Recurrent Expenditure. This, according to him, reflects the government’s commitment to discharging its obligations to workers.

    His words: “The 2018 budget size is N216.55 billion, of which N131.1 billion is Capital Expenditure. This is 60.54 per cent of the budget and is consistent with our agenda to spend more on the people than on running government. But the Recurrent Expenditure is also substantial, at N85.44 billion, reflecting our commitment to discharge our obligations to current personnel in the public service and new workers being recruited by our agencies

    “We have deliberately tagged the budget as the “Budget of Consolidation”; it is the last full annual budget before the 2019 elections, and it is designed to complete the many projects we are doing in the service of our people.

    Reacting to the outcry that greeted his planned sack of 21,780 primary school teachers, El-Rufai said: “the radical actions in the education sector considers the future of two million primary school pupils as being above whatever sentiments 22,000 unqualified teachers may mobilise.

    “Our public service reform programme recognises that effective service delivery needs a dynamic, highly-skilled, IT-savvy and youthful public service. As important as the public service is, all those who work there represent less than 1 per cent of the state’s population. “We must take care of the public service, but we cannot do this by neglecting the other 99 per cent that does not work for the government. In a democracy, the government cannot exist to serve only those who lead and work for it. The government must shed weight so that public resources can be more fully devoted to providing public goods, benefitting the people.”