James Ojo, Abuja
Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has called on Ekiti Governor, Kayode Fayemi, to wade into the sack of 800 workers of the state-owned university to avoid industrial disharmony.
The authorities have laid off about 800 of the university staff on account that they were recruited illegally.
SSANU, in a statement yesterday, noted that the termination of the appointment of the workers did not follow due processes.
The union alleged that the sacked workers were never invited to present their credentials or state their cases before any competent management or council committee.
National Publicity Secretary, Abdussobur Salaam, statement, said: “SSANU national leadership has just been appraised of the recent happenings at Ekiti State University where a number of staff numbering between 600 and 800 were said to have been laid off by the university council.
“We note that whereas other universities and organisations are using the December/yuletide period to provide relief packages and end of year bonuses to their workers, the administration of the Ekiti State University has chosen to use this period to order the termination of appointments of that large number of workers on unfathomable and unfortunate reasons.
“From information available to us, the procedure for the termination of the appointments of these staff did not follow standard and laid down processes as provided for in the university rule books and as obtainable from best practices all over the world.
“To wit, no investigation committees, no staff audit or verification committees were formed. The staff were never invited to make themselves available to present their credentials or state their cases before any competent management or council committee.
“The council rather relied on the report of a consultant hired for that purpose, to terminate the appointments of these workers.”
SSANU informed Governor Fayemi that some of the affected workers had served the university for a long time and have risen to the apogee of their career.
“It is also worthy to note that these staff, some of whom have been in the service of the university for decades and have risen to the pinnacle of their careers, were employed through due processes of advertisements, application, shortlisting, interviews and approval by council as required by law. Not a few of them have been confirmed and even promoted subsequently.
“The recent happenings at Ekiti State University calls for the concern of all stakeholders within and outside the system.”
SSANU therefore called for the immediate reinstatement of the workers whose process of sack is incongruous with due process.