Kaduna Governor Threatens his State’s Lecturers

What El-Rufai Said

El-Rufai explained that the Acting Vice-Chancellor of KASU had earlier assured him that lecturers would resume work. He also disclosed that:

he initially ordered that the salaries of striking lecturers be stopped,
an investigation was later launched to confirm whether KASU lecturers actually joined the strike, and
any lecturer who collected salary while participating in the strike would be required to refund the money.

He stressed that Nigerian labour law operates on the principle of:

“No work, no pay.”

According to him, any KASU lecturer who joined the strike should not expect to be paid.

Strong Warning to KASU Lecturers

The former governor further stated that if the lecturers continue to stay away from work, he would take drastic action.

In his words, he said he could wake up one day and sack all the lecturers involved, adding that their positions would be declared vacant publicly.

He also revealed that he was waiting for an official report from the Commissioner for Education before taking final action.

Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who made the threat to sack KASU lecturers?

The threat was made by Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, during a radio interview.

Which university lecturers are affected?

The warning was directed specifically at lecturers of Kaduna State University (KASU).

Why did El-Rufai say KASU lecturers should not join the ASUU strike?

He argued that ASUU’s dispute was with the Federal Government, not with the Kaduna State Government, and therefore KASU lecturers had no direct grievance with the state authorities.

What will happen to lecturers who joined the strike and still collected salary?

According to El-Rufai, any lecturer who joined the strike after collecting salary would be asked to refund the money, based on the principle of “no work, no pay.”

Are the lecturers already sacked?

No.
As at the time of the statement, El-Rufai said he was waiting for the report from the Commissioner for Education before taking any final decision on possible sackings.

Conclusion

The statement has generated public attention because it directly affects staff of a state-owned university and highlights the long-standing tension between state governments and ASUU during nationwide industrial actions.

day, 27th July, asked the lecturers to return to classrooms to avoid having their positions declared vacant.

He maintained that KASU lecturers had no reason to join any strike as ASUU had problem with the federal government, not the state government.

“The Acting Vice Chancellor has assured me that they will resume but 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 joined 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 newspaper. They once did 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.”