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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

ASUP faults Bayelsa polytechnic management and threatens fresh strike

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A dispute erupted after Bayelsa State Polytechnic management queried academic officials who missed an Academic Board meeting on September 2, 2026.
  • The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics rejected the queries, saying its members followed a union directive because they do not recognise a retired former rector as the institution’s rector.
  • ASUP demanded the queries’ withdrawal and warned of renewed industrial action after previously suspending a strike following government intervention.

A dispute over who has authority to convene meetings at Bayelsa State Polytechnic has pushed the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics toward another strike threat.

Management queried several heads of department, directors and deans for allegedly missing an Academic Board meeting held on September 2, 2026. The queries, dated September 3, accused the officials of staying away without prior notice or explanation and described their conduct as “an act of sabotage” against the institution’s academic progress.

As a registered and respected trade union representing serving academic staff, ASUP does not recognise a retiree who is a member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners as Rector of any polytechnic.

· Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Bayelsa State Polytechnic chapterThe union explained why it rejected the authority of the retired former rector.

ASUP’s Bayelsa State Polytechnic chapter rejected the disciplinary action. In a letter to the registrar dated September 4, the union demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the queries. The letter, signed by Chairman Dr Oyin-Emi Ogbomah and General Secretary Nemine Tonprebofa Andrew, said the affected officials had acted on a directive from the union’s national body.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no polytechnic in the Federal Republic of Nigeria where a retired Rector issues directives to serving academic staff.

· Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Bayelsa State Polytechnic chapterThe union argued that serving staff should not follow directives from a retired former rector.

The union said it had instructed academic officials not to attend meetings convened or chaired by the retired former rector because it did not recognise him as the institution’s rector. “As a registered and respected trade union representing serving academic staff, ASUP does not recognise a retiree who is a member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners as Rector of any polytechnic,” it said. The union added that serving staff could not be bound by directives from a retired former rector and “will not accept such an anomaly.”

The latest confrontation follows an earlier industrial dispute over the polytechnic’s administration. ASUP suspended its strike after intervention by the Bayelsa State Government and Governor Douye Diri, the institution’s visitor. The union said its immediate priority remained returning to the classroom and teaching students.

Our current priority and mandate remain focused on returning to the classroom to teach our students.

· Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Bayelsa State Polytechnic chapterASUP described its immediate priority after suspending an earlier strike.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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