By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to obey the National Industrial Court NIC, order mandating him to relieve five Rectors of some Polytechnics of their appointments with immediate effect.

ASUP claimed that the Rectors were not qualified to occupy the position they were appointed into, saying that their continuous stay in office was an embarrassment to the academic community.

Besides, the union warned some state governments owing lecturers several months of salaries to pay up immediately before May 29, threatening that any governor who failed to adhere to the warning will face the wrath of workers in their respective states.

This is as it has called on the President to sign the dichotomy bill passed by the National Assembly which removed the dichotomy between the university and the Polytechnic graduates.

Briefing journalists in Abuja at the end of the 106th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, the National President of ASUP, Comrade Anderson Ezeibe, said his members were disappointed that the federal government has decided to ignore the court order nullifying the appointments of five Rectors.

Recall that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in the suit marked: NICN/ABJ/117/2021, under the leadership Justice O. A. Obaseki-Osaghae, had last month nullified the appointment of five rectors of five polytechnics on the grounds of lack of requisite qualifications.

Those affected were: Prof. Edward Okey, Dr. Zakari Yau, Prof. Garba Ngala, Prof. Edwin Onyeneje and Dr. Terlumun Utser who are Rectors of Federal Polytechnics, Ugep; Shendam; Mungonu; Ohodo; and Wannune respectively.

But Ezeibe said, “Our Union is unhappy that the supremacy of the rule of law is threatened in the Nigerian Polytechnic System as this signals a new regime of impunity in the sector.

“We have equally drawn the attention of the Federal Ministry of Education on the need to respect the judgment of the court and extend the same to the purported appointments of Prof. Mohammed Magaji and Dr. Duke Okoro as Rectors of the new Federal Polytechnics in Kano and Delta states.

“It is unfortunate that the sector is already operating in the realm of crass impunity and disrespect for the rule of law.

“Equally, the affected persons who are still shamelessly parading themselves and pretending to be performing the duties as Rectors of the polytechnics despite the declaration that they are not qualified and therefore unfit to hold the offices are demonstrating to the world that they are lacking in the character to be in academics.

“We are calling on the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education to respect the ruling of the National Industrial Court and relieve the affected persons parading as rectors of such duties.”

Speaking about unpaid salaries in an angry tone, the president, who condemned the governors, noted that it is a sad commentary that academics are owed salaries in the current economic dispensation.

The union leader, who specifically mentioned that its members in Abia state institutions are currently owed salaries of over 40 months, also listed Plateau, Osun, Benue, Edo and Ondo state polytechnics as some of the institutions his members were owed.

“As a union, our responsibility to our employer is to come to work, perform our duties, and leave with the hope that at the end of the month, our employers will behave themselves and pay us our emoluments in full.

“But unfortunately, some state governments have continued to play with the livelihoods of staff of polytechnics in their respective states.

“Abia State Polytechnic Aba where staff are owed for over 40 months; Polytechnics and Monotechnics owned by the Plateau State government, Polytechnics and Monotechnics owned by the Osun state government, Polytechnics and Monotechnics owned by the Benue state government, Polytechnic owned by the Ondo State Government and The Polytechnic owned by the Edo state government are owed backlogs of their salaries.

“The union is unhappy with the situation and requests that salaries be paid immediately or face massive industrial actions or shut down the institution till the state is ready to fund the polytechnics,” he said.

He further condemned stagnation of the Union’s 2010 Renegotiation Process which commenced since 2017 and has lingered till date.

“We are worried that with the administration winding down, the entire process in itself is endangered. This is not good for industrial relations in the country as it violates known tenets of collective bargaining principles.” Ezeibe noted

ASUP called on the President to sign into law the Dichotomy Bill that was pending, stressing that relevant stakeholders had made similar call to the President to sign the bill before leaving office on May 29.

The Union equally demanded the conclusion of the appointment process for the rectors of Federal Polytechnic Bauchi and Yaba College of Technology explaining that the non- conclusion of the process is undermining the smooth administration of the institutions.

On 2023 general elections, he faulted plots for interim government, adding that, “ASUP regretted the unfortunate reports of shortcomings in the conduct of the 2023 general elections across the country, describing it as a missed opportunity to deepen the nation’s democratic values.”