Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda has approved over N340 million to restore electricity supply to the state-owned university, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina (UMYUK).

This is contained in a statement issued in Katsina on Saturday, by the Director Press, office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu-Yar’adua.

Aliyu-Yar’adua said that the governor had approved the immediate release of the fund for two separate electricity projects in the university.

“Firstly, the replacement of a 33KVA indoor control panel and other accessories which supply power to the school at the cost of over N260 million, and also the installation of solar security lights awarded at the cost of over N98 million,” he said.

According to Aliyu-Yar’adua, the decision by the state government aims to address incidents of vandalism and insecurity in the university.

He explained that the SSG, Alhaji Abdullahi Faskari who made the announcement, also disclosed that the approval was a swift response of the governor to restore conducive atmosphere of learning and other activities in the institution.

Aliyu-Yar’adua quoted the SSG as saying: “Gov. Radda is concerned about the recent report of power outage which affected the university, hence, the directives to fix it with immediate effect.

“Radda appreciated the various efforts of the management, and the understanding exhibited by the staff and students of the university while trying to restore the power supply and assured his administration’s commitment towards uplifting the standards of education at all levels in the state.”

It will be recalled that the management of the institution had extended its mid-semester break following issues associated with electricity supply to the university.

“The university’s senate has at its special meeting reviewed the progress made on the repairs of electricity supply to the university, which apparently shows that the earlier date given for resumption, Monday, Sept. 16, is not tenable.

“In view of the above reality and as State Government is working to address the fault; the university senate finds it expedient to suspend the resumption until the electricity supply is fully restored,” a statement by Muhammad Yusufu-Abubakar, Registrar and Secretary to the university’s senate said.