Gabriel Dike
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has kicked against the Federal government’s decision to extend the tenure of two rectors of federal polytechnics, stating that the action was contrary to the Federal Polytechnics Act.
The union in a statement signed by its National President, Dutse Usman, titled “Reported extension of tenure of the rectors of federal polytechnics Bida, Niger State and Ile-Oluji, Ondo State,’’ described the Federal government decision as illegal.
‘’The attention of the national body of ASUP has been drawn to the illegal extension of the tenure of the rectors of the federal polytechnics, Bida and Ile-Oluji by the Federal government.
‘’This action of government covertly communicated as “reappointment for a second term,” via letters signed by the Minister of Education is the end product of the processes initiated by the governing councils of both polytechnics in utter disregard of the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics Act.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the prevailing provisions in the act prescribes an appointment for a term of four years in the first instance and “a reappointment for a further period of four years and no more” for the office of the rector in Nigeria’s federal polytechnics,” ASUP stated.
According to ASUP, the provision presupposes that such a candidate must have a minimum of four years of service life to qualify for any such (re) appointment to satisfy the period stated in the law.
Specifically, the union observed that the letter from the Registrar of Federal Polytechnic, Bida, communicating the purported “reappointment” of the current rector to the polytechnic community, effective May 21, 2019, revealed that his appointment would terminate on February 2021, after the rector must have attained the mandatory retirement age of 65 years in line with the conditions of service in the polytechnic system.
ASUP further noted that the implication of the purported “appointment” was for a period of one year, eight months and 25 days contrary to the four years prescribed by the law.
The union explained that the same scenario also played out in Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, as the “appointed” rector from a sister sector does not have up to four years remaining in his service life to fulfil the service period of a rector as prescribed by law.
ASUP recalled that the arbitrariness associated with these purported appointments was further underlined by the fact that in a similar situation at the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, (operating similar legal regime with the polytechnics) in 2018, the provision of the law was upheld.
It noted: “Our union is surprised that the supervising ministry disregarded its protests on this matter and insisted on the path of this illegality by covertly extending the tenures of the rectors to terminate at their retirement dates even when there is no provision in the law for tenure extension for such office.
The union said some agencies of government had not demonstrated enough commitment to support the current effort at reviewing the Polytechnics Act and terminating such controversies by limiting the tenures of principal officers to single terms as is the case in the universities.
The national president stressed that the act of illegality had heightened tension in the affected polytechnics thus creating a fertile ground for avoidable industrial strife.
His words: “We are also worried as this action has opened a new vista in the catalogue of woes confronting the sector with the potential of extending to other polytechnics if left unaddressed.”
Usman put the public on notice that the governing councils of the affected polytechnics, National Board for Technical Education and the Federal Ministry of Education should be held responsible for any breach of peace in the institutions affected as well as the entire sector.
He warned: “Further action on the matter shall be taken at the union’s National Executive Council meeting coming up in a few days time.”