Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
The Joint Action Committee of the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, is at loggerheads with the Chairperson of the Governing Council of the institution, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, over an alleged exclusion of members of the council.
The JAC comprises the FUO’s chapters of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, the National Association of Academic Technologists and the Non-Academic Staff Union.
The unions, after their emergency meeting in Otuoke on Saturday, protested against Saraki’s planned meeting of the governing council in Abuja, saying that such a meeting should hold on campus in Otuoke.
The JAC, therefore, declared the Abuja meeting illegal, describing it as being in total disregard of the unions’ request that university’s governing council should no longer hold meetings outside the institution.
The committee wondered why Saraki, who is also the institution’s pro-chancellor, excluded internal members of the council against the law governing the university that any meeting must be inclusive of same to represent the interest of the university community.
Expressing their volte-face against the pro-chancellor, the unions said their protest was based on the following premises, “That the Chairperson, Gbemisola Saraki, has excluded all internal council members who were duly elected by Senate and Congregation to represent the interest of these two statutory bodies.
“That University Councils are constituted purely on interests and representations in accordance with the law establishing them and the powers of Council and all other organs of the University are derived from this law.
“That the Federal University, Otuoke Act, 2015 makes specific provisions for the composition and tenure of members, meetings, duties and any other related issue (s).
“That the third schedule article 1(2) made explicit provisions for the tenure of the members representing public interests, University Senate and the University Congregation.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the tenure of Internal Council members as provided in the Federal University Otuoke Act, 2015 is four years. The members representing Senate and Congregation in Federal University Otuoke were elected effective August 1, 2015.’’
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