The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has the appointment of Rectors and other principal officers for the 6 new Federal Polytechnics situated in Enugu, Oyo, Cross River, Plateau, Borno and Benue states are illegal.
In a sstatement made available to iVotesng by its president, Comrade Anderson Ezeibe, the union said the appointment are in violation of provisions of the Federal Polytechnics (Amendment) Act, 2019 as 5 out of the 6 new rectors are not qualified for the positions having fallen short of the requirements captured in Section 8, 2 (a) i of the Act.
He explained that a rundown of the profiles of the beneficiaries of appointments shows that 5 out of the 6 persons do not fit into the requirements of the law for appointment of Rectors in Federal Polytechnics in the country.
He said these beneficiaries include the appointees for Federal Polytechnics Ohodo (Enugu), Ugep (Cross River), Shendam (Plateau), Monguno (Borno), and Wannune (Benue).
According to him, “It is regrettable that the government, through officials of the Federal Ministry of Education has become principal violators of the laws governing the operations of Nigerian Polytechnics.
“This latest assault is despite the contents of a recent ruling of the National Industrial Court in Abuja where the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics (Amendment) Act, 2019 was affirmed by the court and the Federal Ministry of Education and her officials undertaking to observe the provisions in totality.
“Despite the contents of the judgment of the court in NICN/ABJ/12/2020 involving our union and the Attorney General of the Federation, Honorable Minister for Education and 5 others in a similar issue, our Union had drawn the attention of the Federal Ministry of Education on the need to adhere to the provisions of the law in this appointment process more than 1 month before this recent naked display of impunity.
