Gombe Gov’t Under Fire For Earmarking N43 Billion For Gov’s Residence, Others
The recent approval by the Gombe State Executive Council of the sum of N43 billion for renovation of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s residence, State Assembly and High Court complexes has continued to elicit reactions and lamentations from members of the opposition in the state and other Nigerians.
DAYLIGHT REPORTERS reports that the uproar over the projects was in view of the huge amount coupled with the current economic predicament faced in the nation and the hardship experienced by the citizens in the state.
Another issue of concern is that the whooping amount was approved by the government for renovation of the governor’s residence when the same government earmarked less than 4 per cent for the education and health sectors respectively.
Moreso, the whole government house was already under total reconstruction with the contract already awarded since during the first tenure of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
According a Daily Trust report of last week, Gombe State has the least budgetary allocation for education in the whole of Nigeria.
The report indicates that Gombe State has the least budgetary allocation for the education sector in Nigeria having earmarked N26.26 billion in its 2024 budget estimate of over N207 billion.
The allocation to the education sector represents 3.9 per cent of the total budgetary allocations which is shorter than the UNESCO declaration that recommends allocation of at least 15 per cent to the sector.
The state is followed by Edo and Benue States in terms of poor allocation to education sector while Lagos State has the highest allocation in the country for the education sector having earmarked the sum of N170.89 billion, more than twice the amounts of the three least states combined which is N81.33 billion.
According to the report, Bauchi State, the closest neighbouring state to Gombe earmarked the sum of N48.28 billion to the education.
Members of the opposition decried that the approval of the N43 billion for renovation of the governor’s residence, assembly and high court complexes are exorbitant and misplacement of priorities.
The critics lamented that the huge sum was approved for the projects amid economic hardship and hunger faced by the citizens.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State has berated the state government for approving such huge sum for the projects.
PDP in a press release by its state Public Relations Officer Abdulrahman Buba Zaune lamented over what it described as extravagant expenditure, elevating opulence above education and development, neglecting transparency and accountability by the state government.
“The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State vehemently condemns the approval of a staggering sum of N43.130 billion by the Gombe State Executive Council for the construction of a new ultra-modern governor’s residence, High Court, and House of Assembly complexes, amidst growing hardship faced by the people of Gombe State.
“While the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Gombe State claims that there is no money available to fund critical institutions such as the University of Science and Technology in Kumo and address pressing needs in education, the approval of such exorbitant funds for luxury projects raises serious concern about the priorities of the government.
“It is unfortunate while the State Government claimed to declare state of emergency on education, after five years the recently released WAEC result shows Gombe State is 34th out of 36 States and the FCT. In spite of this embarrassing performance in the educational sector, the government is spending a whooping sum of N43.130 billion on projects that have no bearing on the future of our children.”, the statement reads in parts.
The opposition party said it is deeply worried by the misplaced priorities of the APC government in Gombe State, which seems more focused on lavish projects for the benefit of a few, rather than addressing the pressing needs of the populace, including educational development and infrastructure improvements.
“At a time when the people of Gombe State are facing economic challenges and struggling to access basic amenities, it is unacceptable that such a huge sum of public funds is being allocated to projects that do not directly benefit majority of the population.”
Meanwhile, amid the controversies generated by the approval of the sum of N43 billion by Gombe State government for renovation of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s residence, state assembly and high court complexes, the Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) Gombe State University branch has issued a two-weeks ultimatum for the provision of their entitlements in the institution.
According to the resolution of the ASUU congress sent to the university management, a copy obtained by DAYLIGHT REPORTERS, the association lamented the non payment of accumulated ‘Earned Academic Allowances’ (EAA), 2015 to date, non payment of arrears of 2020, 2021 and 2022 promotions, non implementation of 2022 promotion for staff on professorial cadre and non implementation of 2023 promotions for academic staff.
Other outstanding entitlements enumerated by the association include; non implementation of new salary table for academic staff, non payment of arrears of consequential adjustment in minimum wage to N30,000 effective from April 2019, non payment of postgraduate allowances for supervision, internal examination and non payment of allowances for lecturers teaching general studies courses, staff engaged in teaching part-time training programmes.
“The Congress unanimously resolved to give the university a time frame of two weeks from today within which to address the above listed issues”, they said.
They threatened that if the ultimatum expires and their issues are unaddressed, they would not hesitate to consider other legitimate options to pursue their demands.
DAYLIGHT REPORTERS observed that the approval of the N43 billion for the renovation of the governor’s residence, and others elicited condemnations even from outside the state due to the current economic situation in the country with some comedians lambasting Governor Inuwa in their skits.
