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Tag: Governor Yahaya Bello

  • Fish out killers of Kogi labour leader – Bello orders security

    Fish out killers of Kogi labour leader – Bello orders security

    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has condemned the gruesome murder of the Chairman of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Science and Technology Education Board, Mr Abdulmumini Yakubu and one other in Ozuwaya, in Okene Local Government of the state.

    In a statement issued in Lokoja on Thursday by his Special Adviser on security, Retired Navy  Cdr. Jerry Omodara, Governor Bello described the gruesome murder of Mr. Yakubu  alongside one Ibrahim Otaru who reportedly came to discuss some community issues with him as a further proof of the culture of violence and the systemic decimation of law-abiding citizens by the enemies of peace in the state and called on security agencies to rise to the occasion and apprehend the killers of Mr. Yakubu and his friend.

    ‘It is lamentable that in spite of what we are doing to make Kogi State safe and secure, some bad eggs still take pride in the unenviable record of being one of the most violent in the country. This latest gruesome murder of Mr Yakubu has again confirmed the reign of politics of intolerance, banditry and assassinations which our government has sworn to wipe out,” the statement said.

    The governor said the APC led government in the state was determined to fight against impunity to deter further crimes, uphold the rule of law and protect public trust in the justice system.

    He described the late Yakubu as an exceptionally brilliant, humble, forthright and focused personality who spent almost his entire life for the good of humanity.

    “He was a dogged union  leader who contributed immensely to the welfare of his members in the promotion of robust labour relations between his union and the state government as well as a trusted community leader who gave total  support to governments war against bandits and hoodlums in Kogi central and the state at large.”

    Bello described his death as a huge loss not only to his family and the Organised Labour, but to the state government, noting that  his advice at various times on labour related issues as well as security in the Central Senatorial district was invaluable.

    While reiterating his commitment to work with security agencies to unearth those behind the murder and bringing them to justice, he prayed that God will give the families of the deceased, the Organised Labour the fortitude to bear the loss, and grant eternal rest to the departed.

  • ‘Kogi N4bn pension fund diverted to private pockets’

    ‘Kogi N4bn pension fund diverted to private pockets’

    The Auditor-General of Kogi State and chairman, technical committee, state pension reform, Alhaji Yakubu Okala has revealed that N4 billion belonging to pensioners in the state was diverted into private pockets between 2010 and 2015.

    This he said was perpetrated by few individuals saddled with the responsibility of handling the pension funds.
    Okala who made this known on Thursday in Lokoja during a stakeholders meeting heralding the new contributory pension scheme by the state government said that all those that were involved in the pension fraud will be apprehended and brought to justice.

    According to him, embezzlement of the funds in the state has thrown pensioners into a piteous condition to the point that many of them were ashamed of being identified as retired civil servants.

    He added: “Pensioners at the local government level are worst hit by the fraudulent act. Investigation on the councils’ pension is on-going and we must see it to the end.

    “Government has tried its best in releasing money for the payment of pension in the state, but the handlers have failed woefully.”

    He lamented that in 2007, a pension reform bill was sent to the State House of Assembly, and passed into law, but that the scheme did not commence until after ten years as a result of lack of political will by previous administrations.

    He called on the civil servants at the state and local government levels to key into the new contributory pension scheme in order to better their lives after retirement.

    He commended Governor Yahaya Bello for his courage in actualising the new contributory pension scheme for civil servants in the state.

    The chairperson of the state pension bureau, Hajia Sa’adatu Atima explained that for the success of the new pension scheme, the state government will contribute 10 percent while individual workers will contribute eight percent.

    She described the scheme as safe and laudable, urging workers in the state to key into it.

  • Bello proscribes JAC in state institutions

    Bello proscribes JAC in state institutions

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has banned activities of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) in all state-owned tertiary institutions.

    Bello announced the proscription during a broadcast. According to him, besides being corrupt, JAC has become a cog in the wheel of development.

    His words: “The Kogi State government is dismayed that trade unionism has lent itself to impeding the government’s efforts at carrying out holistic reforms of the civil service, through unjustified and unjustifiable strikes.

    “The Joint Action Committee of trade unions in the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja has proceeded on another strike, for alleged unpaid salaries and emoluments, irrespective of clear evidence of government’s good faith and efforts contradicting JAC’s position; evidence of massive embezzlement of the polytechnic’s earnings in excess of N157 million committed under JAC’s nose.”

    He said the process of employing other categories of workers required by the respective institutions, based on compelling need, will begin immediately.

    The governor directed law enforcement and security agencies to remain vigilant and be proactive in preventing the breakdown of law and order.

    “The government respects the rights of all citizens to responsibly associate and pursue their welfare within the ambits of the Constitution of Nigeria, laws of Kogi State, the rights of other citizens and the norms of a democratic society. It has made tremendous progress in resolving all issues relating to adequacy and frequency of remuneration for all categories of civil servants…”

  • Downpour causes gridlock on Abuja-Lokoja highway

    Downpour causes gridlock on Abuja-Lokoja highway

    Reminiscent of the hardship brought on motorists by the 2012 flooding, heavy overnight downpour across the Kogi State capital Thursday affected vehicular movement along the busy Abuja-Lokoja highway.

    The rains which lasted several hours led to flooding, and overflowing drainages in areas of the capital.

    Most affected by the logjam were motorists and travelers plying the major highway leading to the nation’s capital, with the near-no movement witnessed from the Jamata Bridge and Nataco sections of the Murtala Mohammed Road.

    It spilled into inner areas of Lokoja, as drivers sourced alternative routes away from the long strech, going as far as Felele, along the Okene section of the inter-states highway.

    Some motorists who spoke with The Nation, expressed dismay over the situation, even as they meandered their way around it.

    Some houses close to the river side were not spared, with the increasing water level of the River Niger encroaching on them.

    As at the time of filing this report, Governor Yahaya Bello was billed to make an on the spot visit to the affected area.

  • Tension as Kogi varsity sacks 150 teachers

    Tension as Kogi varsity sacks 150 teachers

    The Kogi State University (KSU) has sacked 150 striking lecturers for their refusal to return to work. The action drew the ire of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which described it as callous. MOHAMMED YABAGI reports.

    THE  battle line has been drawn between the Kogi State government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), following the sack of 150 lecturers in one fell swoop.

    Their dismissal followed the proscription of the KSU chapter of ASUU by the Governor Yahaya Bello after the institution resumed from a seven-month strike. The lecturers were fired for refusing to return to work. The lecturers are sympathetic to the ASUU leadership, which insisted that the government must pay all arrears owed workers before the school  is re-opened.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the lecturers, who received their letters of dismissal on August 14, refused to sign the attendance registers opened in all faculties. It was gathered that 48 lecturers were affected at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, where the ASUU Chairman, Dr Daniel Aina, teaches.

    A source, who asked not to be named, said affected lecturers would not get last month’s salary. The source said: “Their names have been removed from the July salary schedule that will soon be sent to Lokoja for payment.”

    Two weeks after the re-opening of the university, the national leadership of ASUU declared an indefinite action. But KSU lecturers said they would not join the strike, because of the proscription of their chapter.

    The local ASUU said the proscription was illegal, describing it as an infringement on members’ right to associate. The union also dismissed as a joke, the management’s decision to sack its members. The union, Dr Aina said, would fight the replacement of Heads of Departments.

    But, students are backing the school in its face-off with their teachers. They criticised the local ASUU chapter for “attempting to bring the school to another round of strike” while it is yet to recover from the effects of the previous action.

    The students hailed the government for proscribing ASUU on the campus.

    A final year Economics student, Nathaniel Ekele, said: “It may not have gone down well with many people, but I support the government’s decision. It is the best decision to save the school from collapse. With what is happening within the national leadership of ASUU, it shows the government took a wise decision. After about seven months of internal strike, we cannot afford to join the ongoing strike.”

    Solomon Ajayi, a 200-Level Chemistry student, said the mass sack of lecturers might backfire on the institution and cause another crisis. While he did not support the KSU for joining the strike, he urged the local ASUU  to consider the plight of students.

    “Since I gained admission into the institution, we have not had a stable academic calendar. We have been bearing the brunt of the disagreement between the institution and its workers. KSU needs to do away with any strike. This is why I support the ban on ASUU. But, I am afraid about the mass sack of lecturers by the management. This may create another problem for the institution. We expect all parties to meet and solve the matter amicably because students will resist any attempt to close the school again,” he said.

    Describing ASUU’s demands as “selfish”,  the students warned the lecturers not to mortgage their future.

    An employee, Andrew Ojonugwa, said the proscription of ASUU was unpopular on campus. But, the action, he said, was in the interest of the students and academic stability.

    He said most KSU workers did not support the ASUU leadership.

    Ojonugwa said: “Those of us who saw reasons with the government and supported its decision on the proscription of ASUU have been labelled with all sorts of unprintable names. How would the students feel today if the current industrial action by the national ASUU again disrupts academic activities in KSU?”

    A top management officer told CAMPUSLIFE that members of the local ASUU forced the school to implement the  proscription order. He described ASUU as “highly confrontational and insensitive”.

    The source said the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Muhammed Sani Abdulkadir, reached out to ASUU for amicable resolution of the matter. He claimed that the ASUU leadership  rebuffed the peace move.

    He said: “The VC, at a point, found it pointless to continue making efforts to engage the local ASUU leadership. Despite all entreaties to them, they could not see why they should suspend their strike. It was natural to have believed, therefore, that there was more to it than met the eyes. The ASUU was highly insensitive and confrontational in its approach. We had to proscribe the union and dismiss some of them that did not resume for work.”

    But, ASUU said it would not be intimidated by the action. The union said the condition for peace is for the school to reverse the “callous decisions” taken against its members.

  • ‘I’m ready to take bullet for KSU students’

    The last may not have been heard about the recent proscription of activities of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Kogi State University (KSU), Anyigba. Governor Yahaya Bello said it was a tough decision, but it came as an option of the last resort in order for his administration to find a lasting solution to the incessant  closure of the school.

    The governor made this known during the flag-off of the ultra-modern GYB Primary School Project in Lokoja, the state capital.

    Bello said he banned ASUU in the school to prevent a situation where the students would become victims of disagreements between the government and lecturers. He added that his decision was to give the youth and children in the state a better future. He said: “Despite the fact that several commentators have expressed discordant views on the matter, I stick to the ban of ASUU. And I am ready to take bullet for the students and indeed the entire people of the state, if it gets to that.”

    He said his administration had continued to make necessary financial sacrifices towards ensuring that the state’s tertiary education was stabilised.

    Bello stressed the need for a law on perennial struggles between what he described as “the might of unions in institutions” and “the rights of owners and the fate of beneficiaries”.

    He wondered whether there was no provision in law to adjudicate on matters concerning unions in tertiary institutions whenever they go on strike due to genuine constraints of government in meeting all their demands.

    Bello reminded those aggrieved by his government’s decision to proscribe ASUU in KSU that they had rights to approach the court and allow the judiciary to provide answers to the questions agitating their minds.

  • Teachers kick as Kogi varsity bans ASUU

    Teachers kick as Kogi varsity bans ASUU

    The Kogi State University (KSU) has re-opened, five months after it was shut when workers went on an indefinite strike. The resumption followed a peace deal initiated by Governor Yahaya Bello. But, the agreement is being threatened by the proscription of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). MOHAMMED YABAGI reports.

    The Kogi State University (KSU), Anyigba, has been re-opened, five months after it was shut when workers went on an indefinite strike.

    The resumption followed a peace meeting held on the campus, at the instance of Governor Yahaya Bello.

    But, the agreement is being threatened by last week’s proscription  of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).  Lecturers said they might not return to work, if the school did not unban the union’s within two weeks.

    The school was a beehive penultimate week following the visit of Bello, who met with members of ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and students.

    The visit was not without drama. The meeting, earlier scheduled to hold on July 10, was cancelled because of what a source called “an unfavourable security report”. The meeting was deferred till July 11.

    On sighting the governor’s entourage moving towards the campus, students trooped out to welcome him. They trailed the governor’s convoy from the school entrance to the Professor Idachaba Lecture Theatre, venue of the meeting.

    As the stakeholders settled down for business, Bello said the meeting was to seek an end to the strike. But he rejected the kolanut offered by the workers as a symbol of peace.

    He told his hosts: “I know kolanut symbolises peace, but what is the essence of offering and eating it, if we cannot arrive at a compromise that would bring amicable solution and allow the students return to their classes?”

    The governor said it was no longer realistic for the government to continue paying the workers’ salaries when the payment voucher was over-bloated. This, he said, necessitated the extension of the staff screening and verification to the state-owned tertiary institutions. He appealed with the workers to consider the students’ plight and end the strike.

    Bello said he would no longer fire workers employed between 2015 and last year, promising to pay them, and lecturers on sabbatical.

    The Auditor-General, Yusuf Okala, who chaired the staff screening and verification, gave the  university’s staff strength before and after the exercise.

    According to Okala, the university had 1,744 workers before the screening started last year; 1,193 staff were cleared and had received their full salaries. Okala said 337 workers were found wanting, out of which 161 were given clemency by the government. He said that 63 workers had no records, adding that six were found to have been collecting salary from double sources.

    Okala said institution’s wage bill as at January, last year, was N194.3 million monthly or N2.3 billion yearly.

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) leaders went on their knees and begged the governor to prevail on the  workers to end their strike. Replying, Bello said ASUU would not go on strike again under his watch.

    After a July 13 congress, ASUU said its strike would continue. However, the students were disappointed when ASUU announced that the strike would continue.

    Its action drew the students’ ire. Many abused the teachers, describing them as selfish.

    ASUU Chairman Dr. Gbenga Aina told our reporter that the matter was being handled by the union’s zonal leadership. The university chapter of ASUU, he said, could not decide to call off the strike. He said experiences had taught the lecturers not to trust the government.

    In a memo signed by the Registrar, Dr Idu Abubakar, the management ordered lecturers back to work. It directed the Provost of College of Health Sciences and deans of faculties to open an attendance register to ensure compliance.

    But, ASUU said its members would not resume “fully”, if the school did not unban the union.

    The memo proscribing the union reads: “All members of academic staff are advised to note that they will be treated based on their individual terms and conditions of employment. Any member of staff that fails to resume …’’

  • IGR: Kogi deploy new technology

    IGR: Kogi deploy new technology

    To broaden the pool of tax payers in Kogi state, the state Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS) in collaboration with Teasy Limited have devised the use of new technology to ease collection.

    The initiative which was launched yesterday at the Kogi State Revenue House in Lokoja, targets people in the informal sector who are always faced with the challenges of making prompt tax payments.

    According to the Director, Tax Drive and Collection, Mr John Salisu, Teasy International Company has devised an application which makes easy to stagger tax payments in a span of a month.

    He said with the innovation, artisans in the informal sector will be connected with the formal sector through credible data base generated, a situation he averred would be handy for government policy makers.

    Speaking further on the importance of the electronic form of tax collection, the Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT) of the company, Mr. Ademola Fazaz hinted that when fully operational, the innovation would bring convenience in the approach taxes are paid.

    According to him: “The technology works on mobile devices through application and the first thing it does is to capture the data of the tax payer in the informal sector. They will subsequently pay their tax at convenience bit by bit based on the agreed amount. When you finish payment, you will be issued with a tax clearance certificate”.

    Mr Obadofin Emmanuel Kayode collaborated the chairman, saying Governor Yahaya Bello is a technological-friendly leader who is ready to accept any idea that will boost the revenue drive of the state.

    While giving catalogue of infrastructural achievements of the Governor, Mr Kayode noted that the state needed to explore possible means of tax collection to complement the ever dwindling allocation from the federation account.

  • Kogi: JAC suspends over four months strike

    Kogi: JAC suspends over four months strike

    The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Trade Unions of Tertiary Institutions owned by the Kogi State, Wednesday announced the immediate suspension of the over four months that has paralyzed activities in the schools.

    The strike, said the JAC will be suspended for an initial one month, to allow for the resolution of other outstanding issues with the state government.

    Addressing a joint press conference yesterday at the premises of ministry of education, Lokoja, Comrade Moses Balogun of the JAC, called on the staff of the various institutions to resume work from Thursday.

    At the meeting were the state Commissioner of education, Dr Tolorunleke Sunday, representatives from the Governing Councils of Tertiary Institutions Owned by Kogi State and leadership of the JAC in the state.

    Tertiary institutions in the state, including the Kogi State University Ayingba, the Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja have remained under lock since on 31st of January, when the JAC declared its industrial action over some issues with the Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration.

    The JAC’s Balogun who addressed pressmen at the end of their session, commended Governor Yahaya Bello for some of the steps so far taken, including the constitution of credible governing councils, which according him led to the suspension of the strike.

    He added: “We have agreed to suspend the strike for four weeks, to allow issues that have not been fully addressed to be addressed. We have consideration because 80 per cent cleared staff have been paid, and we agreed that the rest will be paid in the next two weeks.

    “We have agreed because government has put in place governing councils for the institutions, except for one. We agreed because of the regard we have for the commissioner of education, who has worked tirelessly over the past months to see to the resolution of the issues.

    “We appreciate Governor Yahaya Bello for constituting credible governing councils, who are not politically appointed, but from universities from across the country, and are very reputable, and pray that God almighty will continue to sustain him.”

    They appealed to government to not allow for a drawback on the agreement so far reached, and that, no staff of any of the state-owned tertiary institutions be victimized as a result of the strike.

  • INEC double registration: Group absolves Bello  

    INEC double registration: Group absolves Bello  

    The Coalition of INEC Accredited Observer Groups in Kogi State have come in stout defence of Governor Yahaya Bello, over his alleged INEC double registration.

    The group during a press  conference that addressed at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Tuesday in Lokoja, described the allegation as false.

    In a statement signed by the Team Leader, Romania Azubuike and the Secretary, they said that the allegation was borne out of envy.

    “Government House is never a registration centre, therefore the INEC officials that claimed to have taken the registration material/machines to Kogi State Government House should come out openly and explain to Nigerians and Kogi people why the commission moved the registration centre to Government House against the official and publicly known venue for registration which is at the LAG headquarters of INEC”, they said.