Education / News

Gov. El-Rufai threatens to sack KASU staff for joining ASUU strike

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has threatened to sack the striking members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), of Kaduna State University, KASU, and declare their positions vacant if they refuse to return to classrooms.

The governor who spoke on a live radio program yesterday night, among others, said: “ASUU has a problem with the Federal Government (FG), not the state government.

The Acting Vice Chancellor has assured me that they will resume and I have asked them to find out if they actually resumed work because I initially instructed that their salary be stopped. “But I was later told they didn’t join the strike; so I asked that it should be investigated and those that collected salary and joined the strike will be asked to refund the salary. This is because Nigeria’s law says ‘no work, no pay’. This is the law. So whoever joined the strike will not be paid salary. We have been telling the KASU lecturers that they have no problem with state government. ASUU’s problem is with the Federal Government; therefore, why will our staff who have no problems with us join the strike?

“If this continues, I will wake up one day to sack them all, I swear to God. We will sack them all and declare their positions vacant on the pages of newspapers. They once did the same thing and we gave them warning, now they repeated it. I’m only waiting to receive the report from the Commissioner for Education. I swear to God, we will sack all those that joined the strike if they refuse to resume work.”

Speaking on the aftermath of the APC Presidential primaries, he said he and other APC governors were fully in support of the Tinubu-Shettima ticket and would work assiduously for their success in 2023 because they have proven to be good leaders as governors in their respective states. El-Rufai, however, said he was not appointed Director-General D-G of the Tinubu campaign as was insinuated, but saddled with an assignment on the campaign …

News / Security

Train attack: Shock as terrorists vow to kidnap Buhari, el-Rufai

Irked by Federal Government’s inability to meet their demands, terrorists who kidnapped the Kaduna-Abuja train passengers on March 28, 2022, have vowed to abduct President Muhammadu Buhari and governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai if their requests are not met.

The terrorists, suspected to be members of Ansaru, also stated that they would abduct other prominent Nigerians, as well as cause mayhem in the country.

These were contained in a new video the group released yesterday. The viral video saw the terrorists flogging the remaining male passengers of the ill-fated train attack, while female passengers were asked to line in front of the male passengers.

The nearly three minutes video showed a bearded passenger, who was asked to speak on their behalf, saying the terrorists told them that they did not plan to keep them as hostage for more than a week, but for government’s nonchalance. He, therefore, called on the international community and the United Nations (UN) to come to their aid since the government has failed to ensure their freedom.

Also, in the background, an elderly woman, about 85 years old, was heard cursing the Federal Government in Hausa, saying, “Allah ya isa” (meaning We leave you with God). She lamented that they voted the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Buhari with the hope that the North and entire country would be secured, but it was all in vain.

The terrorists threatened to kill and sell off some of the remaining train passengers in captivity.

“This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us. These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.

“Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need …

Agriculture / News / politics

El-Rufai to Southern Governors: You can’t implement anti-open grazing law

The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasil el-Rufai, has told his counterparts in the South that the anti-open grazing law that their House of Assembly are passing and which they are signing into law are not implementable.

El-Rufai said this on Tuesday during his visit to the headquarters of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja.

The Governor, who spoke with newsmen, said since there are over 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State he would want to convert into ranching, he would be glad if the Federal Government can support his state with N140 billion.

He said: “The Northern Governors Forum has already taken a position that open grazing is not a sustainable way of livestock production. “And we must move towards ranching.

“But moving towards ranching cannot be done overnight.

“We have to have a plan, we have to have resources and we have to implement it sensibly.

“It is not a matter of populist legislation or saying tomorrow this or that.

“It is not a solution.

“We have taken a position as northern state governors and we are implementing that.

“And in my state, for instance, we are developing a huge ranch to centralize the herders.

“And that is the solution, a long time.

“But can it be done overnight?

“No.

“This project we are doing will cost us about N10 billion.

“The CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) is supporting us with about N7.5 billion.

“And it will take about two years to do.

“We will be settling about 1,500 Fulani herders family.

“And I hope that they will see that there are alternative ways of producing livestock instead of running up and down with cattle going to people’s farms to cause all kinds of problems. We want to solve the problem.”…

News / politics

Electronic voting possible in Nigeria, says El Rufai

Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State says electronic voting is possible in Nigeria, with the right determination.

According to him, the success recorded in the last Local Government election conducted via electronic voting in the state was a demonstration that it was possible across the country.

The governor made the statement in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday to thank the people of the state state for giving the All Progressive Congress victory at the poll.

He welcomed the election as a unifying moment, describing the results from Kaduna South Senatorial District in particular as significant in advancing political consensus in the state and overcoming divisions.

According to him, his administration had placed the credibility and integrity of the electoral process above the discredited practice of previous governments of winner takes all.

He commended the electorates for showing, for the second time, that there was no obstacle to the successful adoption of electronic voting technology in Nigeria.

El-Rufai recalled that voters in the state first made history on May 12, 2018 when they cast their ballots on electronic voting machines to elect chairmen and councilors for the 23 local government councils in the state.

He also explained that the election had placed Kaduna State as the first in Nigeria to use electronic voting and first subnational in Africa to do so.

According to him, it also positioned Nigeria as the second country in Africa after Namibia to use the technology.

El-Rufai said: “The local government elections of 4th September 2021 further validated the Kaduna State Government’s decision to invest in Electronic Voting Machines to promote electoral integrity and transparency.

“Kaduna State is proudly upholding a new chapter in elections in Nigeria, using electronic voting technology, championed by a government that is determined to respect the outcome, win or lose.

“As governor of Kaduna State, I have always taken the view that we all win when democracy triumphs.”

El-Rufai congratulated all the winners in the local government elections and challenged them to use their period in office to serve the people, …