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The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has given the Federal Government 21 days to resolve its outstanding demands or face a nationwide strike across public polytechnics and monotechnics.
Speaking in Abuja after an emergency meeting of the union, ASUP President, Comrade Shammah Kpanja, accused the government of insincerity and deliberate neglect of promises made to the union over the years.
“Our ultimatum has become necessary because issues that directly affect staff welfare and the credibility of polytechnic education have remained unresolved for years despite repeated assurances,” Kpanja declared.
A major source of the union’s anger is the National Board for Technical Education’s (NBTE) decision to outsource the accreditation of polytechnics.
Kpanja described the move as compromising the integrity of the system, alleging that some of the contracted firms had no educational background.
“Our union raised concerns against the FME-approved policy of outsourcing quality assurance activities in Nigeria’s polytechnics, pointing to ethical, economic, conventional, and moral defects. Some of the firms were registered as farming, business, or medical enterprises,” he said.
The ASUP president also revisited the lingering issue of the Peculiar Academic Allowance, a key component of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement.
He accused the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission of deliberately withholding the circular that would affect its payment.
“Instead of making provisions for the allowance, the Federal Ministry of Education has allowed it to be removed from the national budgeting framework,” he lamented.
On the issue of Higher National Diploma (HND) holders, Kpanja faulted the government for failing to implement the dual mandate structure designed to end the bias.
“The continued delay and non-approval of a dual mandate structure aimed at eliminating the age-long discrimination against HND holders has continued to facilitate discrimination against polytechnic education and her products,” he said.
Kpanja also faulted the Federal Government for failing to pay arrears of the 25/35 per cent salary review approved since 2023.
He noted that although the payment was included in the budget, nothing had been released, exacerbating the hardship of members already struggling with economic pressures.
“The situation is even more troubling in state-owned polytechnics where many state governments are yet to fully implement the N70,000 national minimum wage,” he added.
According to him, the government’s indifference is also reflected in its refusal to release the second round of the approved NEEDS Assessment intervention and in the Ministry of Education’s failure to reconvene the committee mandated to review the utilisation of the first round.
He further expressed concern that no step has been taken to actualise the sectoral roadmap of the ministry, which approved the establishment of a dedicated commission for the regulation of the tertiary education component of technical and vocational education and training.
Kpanja listed other outstanding matters, including promotion arrears dating back to 2019 in some institutions, the stalled renegotiation of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement, and the pending arrears for CONTISS 15.
He warned that the lack of political will to address these issues was pushing the system to “a breaking point.”
“In view of the items listed above and the noncommittal disposition of the FME in committing to genuine dialogue, our union’s NEC has resolved to issue a 21-day ultimatum to the government. A failure to utilize this window may lead to the declaration of a trade dispute and withdrawal of services of our members across public polytechnics and monotechnics nationwide,” Kpanja stated.
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