ASUP set for strike over NBTE’s contentious scheme of service

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is set for strike over a newly introduced scheme of service governing the sector.

In June, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) introduced a scheme unifying staff recruitment and promotion for all polytechnics.

NBTE said the scheme would be used as an accreditation instrument in old and new institutions regarding regulatory compliance.

The regulatory body said it would also check the inflow of unqualified academic staff from universities into polytechnics.

The document has since been the subject of disagreement in the polytechnic sector.

The contentious issues include delayed stakeholder engagement on the scheme and the non-release of the stakeholder-validated condition of service for polytechnics.

Other issues include the purported inconsistent provisions of the Federal Polytechnic Act and the laws establishing state-owned institutions, particularly concerning the appointment of principal officers.

Concerns were raised over the delayed implementation of a 35/25 percent salary review for state-owned polytechnics, as well as the release of arrears for federal polytechnics.

ASUP had also demanded the release of a second tranche of the NEEDS Assessment intervention fund and the immediate capture of academic allowance.

The union had issued a 15-day ultimatum to the federal government which is to end by October 23.

It had threatened to embark on strike if the government failed to address the contentious issues in the scheme or withdraw it.

Iloma Richard, the ASUP Zone D coordinator in Port Harcourt, said the NBTE has failed to review the disputed guidelines in the schemes.

He said more lecturers have endorsed an ASUP national executive council (NEC) position to mobilise members for the strike.

Richard said ASUP had suspended a strike on July 22 after a federal intervention mandating the NBTE to review the disputed guidelines.

“As I speak, no progress has been made in this direction due to the obvious reluctance of NBTE,” he said.

“The union has also noted, with regret, a similar attitude of the government towards other welfare needs of the union’s members.

“We shall not hesitate to swiftly mobilise our members from all chapters in the zone if, upon the expiration of the ultimatum, NEC directs any form of industrial action.”