By Abdul Raheem Aodu
Northern Kaduna Peoples Union (NOKAPU) and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, North-west zone, have kicked against the recommendation of the governing council of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, on the reappointment of the current rector, Adamu Aliyu Shika, for another four-year term.
The institution’s governing council recommended to Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state that the rector should be re-appointed on the expiration of his first tenure on August 4, but NOKAPU and 37 members of ASUP kicked against that, saying that he was above the retirement age.
NOKAPU Secretary, Comrade Halliru Idris, in a petition to Yero, said such recommendation was a gross violation of the provision of extant NBTE laws and the revised Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Edict/Laws (2003) on the reappointment of rector for the polytechnic.
He said: “The NBTE and Nuhu Bamalli Edict/Laws stipulates that whoever is to be appointed or reappointed as rector must not be more than 55 years, thus the current rector cannot be re-appointed as he will be 58 years by August 7.
“The action of the council members of the polytechnic has not only contravenes the existing laws of the polytechnic but portrayed them as constitution of contractors doing the bidding of the outgoing rector, masquerading as council members.”
The union scribe advised the governor not to work with the impunity as recommended by the governing council, urging him to adhere strictly to the criteria on the reappointment of rector “so that bad precedence will not be set.”
Meanwhile, the petition of the Polytechnic’s concerned lecturers forum under the aegis of ASUP, has urged the governor to expedite action by directing relevant authorities to advertise the position of the rector from August 5.
The petition signed by 37 concerned lecturers cautioned against the reappointment of the current rector for another four-year term, saying that it would have negative consequences on the overall development objectives of the polytechnic.
