ASUP Gives 21-Day Ultimatum to FG over Unresolved Demands

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has given the federal government a 21-day ultimatum to fulfil its pending obligations under an agreement reached with the union.

Shammah Kpanja, the president of ASUP, made this known while speaking to journalists after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Kpanja explained that the union’s demands include the failure to release a circular to implement the payment of its Peculiar Academic Allowance by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).

He stated that the Peculiar Academic Allowances provided to academic staff in polytechnics formed part of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement.

The union leader noted that, instead of making payment arrangements, the allowances had been removed from the budgeting template, while the federal ministry of education (FME) had not taken definite action to address the issue.

He added that the NEC expressed serious concerns about the ongoing decision of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to outsource the accreditation process for polytechnics in the country, despite earlier assurances to discontinue such actions.

The union leader also stated that the 25/35 per cent arrears from the salary review had not yet been implemented.

He explained that the arrears, which cover 12 months and were included in the budget, have yet to be released for reasons the union cannot comprehend.

The ASUP president further reiterated that the NEC expressed serious concerns over the continued outsourcing of the accreditation process for polytechnics by the NBTE, despite assurances to stop the practice.

He pointed out that many state governments have failed to implement the new national minimum wage.

He also noted that NEC was troubled by the persistent delay and lack of approval for a dual mandate structure intended to end the long-standing discrimination against HND holders.

“In view of the items listed above, our union’s NEC has resolved to issue a 21-day ultimatum to the government to address the issues satisfactorily.

“A failure to utilise this window may lead to the declaration of a trade dispute and withdrawal of services of our members across public polytechnics and monotechnics nationwide,” he said.