Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that he will not release the subvention of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, if the lecturers in the institution fail to pull out of the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
Makinde made this disclosure on Saturday.
PulseNets recalls that lecturers at the LAUTECH had joined the ongoing strike.
LAUTECH is one of the tertiary educational institutions owned by the Oyo state government.
The state government led by Makinde has however threatened that his government will not release the subvention for the university if the lecturers are still on strike.
Makinde, who spoke during a live television broadcast on Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State monitored by our correspondent, said that LAUTECH lecturers have no business with the ASUU strike.
He said that he deliberately withheld the subvention because the lecturers joined the ongoing strike.
He urged the students to hold their lecturers responsible for their inability to be in school.
Makinde who spoke further stated that he will not release the subvention if the lecturers fail to go back to school.
He said, “Let me quickly use this opportunity to address the issue of the ASUU strike in LAUTECH. If the lecturers were sensitive, they should not have joined the industrial action.
“As of today, their subvention is being withheld. If they don’t go back to school, I won’t release their subvention. So, the students must know who to hold accountable.
“When we came in, we met 13 months salary outstanding. We worked to take the institution from Osun back to Oyo state. So, we expected 100 per cent cooperation at least for the sake of the students but there are people who want to play politics among them.
“Now, I can assure them that we will pay the lecturers who return to classrooms to teach our children. Those who want to be fomenting trouble should go ahead.
“I don’t care whether it is an election year. I will only do whatever is right until the last day of my tenure”.
