Nigerian polytechnic teachers under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) have accused high-ranking officials of the federal government of working against the survival of polytechnic institutions in the country.

At the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the union resolved to give a 15-day ultimatum to federal and state governments to suspend the implementation of the contentious aspect of the reviewed scheme of service for the institution or face industrial unrest.The union said the document approved by the Head of Service of the Federation as a Scheme of Service for polytechnics, was highly injurious to the interest and growth of professionals in the sector.

In the communique issued at the end of the NEC meeting in Abuja, ASUP said the document contained significant and fundamental deviations from the document prepared by stakeholders in the sector under the supervision of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

ASUP accused the Head of Service of the Federation of implementing measures capable of killing polytechnic institutions in the country.In the communique titled, ‘Contentious Document on Schemes of Service for Polytechnics’ delivered at the NEC meeting of ASUP, the union’s National President, Shammah Kpanja, said the document approved as Schemes of Service for Polytechnics did not reflect the outcome of series of consultative engagements between the NBTE and stakeholders for over six years.

The communique states: “Following a critical review of the document by the NEC of the union, and in pursuit of our union’s commitment to the advancement of the interest of members and the polytechnics in Nigeria, the following resolutions were made.“In view of the fact that several provisions in the document fell short of the expected standards as earlier observed, our union is hereby issuing a 15-day ultimatum to proprietors of all public polytechnics for the owners of the document, NBTE, tosuspend implementation of the identified provisions until the requisite amendments are effected.