By Gabriel Dike, Lagos

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has warned that inadequate funding of polytechnics by federal and state governments is affecting the entire operations of the institutions in meeting its mandate.

ASUP also revealed that the inability of the Federal Government to implement various agreements signed with staff unions in tertiary institutions is the root cause of frequent industrial actions.

The position of ASUP is contained in a communique of its 104th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the union’s Secretariat in Abuja, which deliberated on the state of affairs of member institutions, poor handling of trade disputes in the education sector and the state of the nation.

The resolutions made available to Daily Sun and signed by ASUP Publicity Secretary, Abdullahi Yawa, decried the sustained poor funding of polytechnics, which has derailed the actualization of the mandates of the polytechnics.

According to him, NEC frowned at the inadequacies in the operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has shown to be opaque and a poor fit for tertiary institutions.

ASUP equally condemned the poor funding profiles of several state-owned polytechnics, noting that the situation has denied them access to enough funds for accreditation, re-accreditation of courses, infrastructural development, mounting of new courses, engaging competent personnel and the day-to-day running of the institutions.

He said NEC frowned at the wastage of scarce resources by the government and the tacit endorsement of impunity in the sector as evidenced in the non-implementation of the reports of the visitation panels for federal polytechnics in 2012 and the release of a white paper for 2021 visitation.

The union expressed discomfort over the harassment of its members at the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti by the EFCC zonal office in Ilorin under the guise of investigating allegations of fraud in the institutions.

The NEC resolutions also condemned the non-representation of union members at the Federal College of Agriculture in the process of amending the scheme and conditions of service of the institution by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

ASUP further expressed disappointment over the persistent failure of the federal government to honour resolutions and agreements signed with unions in the tertiary education sector, which has led to the frequent declaration of strikes.

It faulted the government’s handling of the industrial action in the university system and also picked holes in the registration of two new unions.

The union said it stands in unfettered solidarity with ASUU in its current engagement with the federal government.

ASUP NEC urged the government to release salaries owed to members of ASUU, SSANU, NAAT and NASU to facilitate the restoration of industrial harmony in the Nigerian University System.

On outstanding demands, ASUP expressed disappointment with the slow pace of government release of the approved N15billion revitalization fund for public polytechnics.

The union called for the conclusion of the ASUP/FNG re-negotiation of the 2010 agreement, revision and release of the accepted scheme of service for polytechnics, withdrawal of the contradictory template for appointment of principal officers and appointment of a new rector for Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State.