The Joint Union of Plateau State Owned Tertiary Institutions (JUPTI), has called Gov. Caleb Mutfwang to reinstate all heads of tertiary recently sacked.
Mr Sunoe Longbam, Chairman of the union made the call in a news conference on Tuesday in Jos.
News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports Mutfwang had sacked the Vice Chancellor of the Plateau University, Bokkos, Plateau Polytechnic, Barkin-Ladi, College of Education, Gindri, Colleges of Health Technology Zawan and Pankshin.
The governor also appointed acting heads to oversee the affairs of the institutions.
Longbam maintained that the sack was not in consonance with the extant laws establishing the institutions.
“The position of the Chief Executives of these intuitions were advertised, interviews were conducted and they were found appointable; their appointments were in accordance with the Edicts and Laws that established those institutions.
“We wander which criteria was used in removing the heads of the tertiary institutions; their removal were not in line with the extant laws governing the institutions and so the union is shocked with this development.
”Especially that our dear governor is a beneficiary of law and justice, we are afraid that these act might be counter productive with gross and unimaginable consequence in the accreditation of our academic programs.
“Again without minding the position of the Edit, we are again confronted with what the government termed “temporary appointment” even where exists Deputies and which by law should rightly be given such positions.
“How can we have temporary heads of where there exists deputies? This is in total disregard to the laws guiding the operation of these institutions,”he said.
The chairman, who said that the sack of the heads had posed serious threats to the existence of the institutions, called on the governor rescind his decision.
“This is a serious setback in our quest for a better educational system in the state; we are really worried about the future of our tertiary education in the state.
”We demand that government should re-visit its action for the sake of industrial harmony,”he said.
Longbam also emphasised that the cancellation of recruitments in tertiary institutions, saying that the action will constitute a setback in the institutions
“The issue of employment was a product of agreement reached with government leading to the recruitment of staff in October, 2022.
”This was to bridge the gap in manpower in the tertiary Institutions, but in June, 2023 the newly employed staff were suspended by the government.
“We acknowledge the intention of government to verify and review the entire process, the committee’s white paper report was very explicit; it did not cancel the employment done in tertiary institutions rather recommended that the white paper report be implemented but was delayed for some reasons not known until the outright cancellation.
“This action will definitely constitute a setback in our tertiary institutions. It is sad that it is the educational sector that government chose to politicise when we expect pro-activeness in the sector.
“We wish to request that government should have a rethink and isolate candidates with questionable issues and reinstate the staff who are qualified and especially those cleared by successive committees in the interest of industrial harmony.
