Crisis rocked Kaduna Polytechnic chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) as some Union members passed a vote of no confidence on the Chairman, Engr. Abubakar Abdullahi, over sales of some of the Polytechnic’s staff quarters.
The ASUP member group led by Dr. Shedrack Audu accused the chapter ASUP Chairman of violating the Regular Congress Resolution of 21st November, 2022, which appointed Ahmed Ahmed & Co as the solicitor of the chapter, alleging that, the chapter chairman in a unilateral decision appointed a different solicitor to handle a court case instituted against some bonafide and financial members of the union.
But the Chairman in a swift reaction said, while he was constrained to comment on the sales of the Polytechnic’s property, which is the bone of contention, as the matter is in court, the group lacked the power to pass a verdict on his chairmanship and are speaking on vested interests.
Addressing journalists shortly after a meeting of the group, Dr. Audu said, the ASUP Chairman, “Engr. Abubakar J. Abdullahi equally violated the Emergency Congress Resolution of the 6th December 2022. At this meeting, a resolution rejecting the sale of Kaduna Polytechnic Government Quarters was held. However, the resolution did not request the Union Executive to file a court case in any law court against its members (Appendix 2, Resolution 8). But the union chapter chairman in his wisdom decided to file a case against its members at the Federal High Court, Kaduna with respect to the sale of the said quarters.
“Engr. Abubakar J. Abdullahi lied under Oath with respect to the Case Filed and Titled “The Registered Trustees of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna Chapter
There is no such registered trustee of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics much less Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna Chapter (Appendix 3). When the case was mentioned in the court, the KPT Union Chairman identify himself as ASUP KPT Chapter Chairman to represent the said Trustee of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics.
“Also, non compliance with the written directives from the ASUP national body to KPT chapter to withdraw the case it instituted against its members at the Federal High Court, Kaduna. As a result of his non-compliance with the directive from the national body to immediately withdraw such case from the court, this chapter is facing a risk of heavy sanctions from the national body which would not be too palatable for this local chapter and we would want to avoid it.
“It is in view of the above mentioned violations by the chairman that the Congress met and passed a vote of no confidence on him. This is also expedient in order to forestall the breakdown of peace and industrial harmony enjoyed presently by the Institution and Kaduna state at large, because there is a burning tension and bubble which could burst any time from now,” Dr. Audu said.
But, the ASUP Chairman in his reaction said, the group had not spoken for the union.
“Even as we cannot deny their membership. They have spoken for their vested interests as occupiers of the staff quarters that our Congress passed a resolution not to be sold. The same resolution has since been validated by our supervising Ministry, concurrently. As a Chairman, I should be surprised that, those who have glaringly violated the Constitution of the Union, specifically Article 25, are the ones passing a verdict on its leadership. There are processes required by our laws to get to the point of such verdict.
“They are clear and categorical under our codes of Conduct, specifically, item “C” and “D” where it is clear about what constitutes a meeting of Congress members from which a resolution is recognised or binding and by which we, as other law abiding members of the union may now classify the actions of these persons as clearly undermining the union as an institution including a deliberate weakening of our collective bargaining principles. Their insistence on proceeding to buy public assets of the institution against all known inhibitions including the ruling of the courts cannot qualify for anything else than impunity,” he said.