The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, in Bayelsa State, has been shut down by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) for nine days following a face-off between workers and the institution’s management over deductions of union dues.
Union leaders said the institution would remain shut down until the rector and the Governing Council Chairperson are removed to pave the way for the face-off to be resolved.
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NASU, on 11 July, shut down the institution over withheld June salary and non-remittance of four months dues paid by the union members.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aggrieved workers locked up the institution’s liaison office in Yenagoa, the main campus at Ekowe and the rector’s residence in Yenagoa.
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The polytechnic management released the June salary of NASU members on Thursday but failed to remit outstanding union dues.
The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe chapter of NASU vowed that the institution would remain shut down until the check-off dues dispute is resolved.
Etebu Ebifiye, the NASU chairperson at the polytechnic, told NAN that management’s non-remittance of union dues breached labour laws and threatened industrial harmony.
According to him, the non-deduction and remittance of union dues from members’ salaries was an existential threat to NASU at the polytechnic located on the bank of the River Nun in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
Mr Ebifiye said the rector directed the payment of the withheld salary without remitting check-off dues for June in addition to January, February, March and April 2025 which triggered an industrial action in the institution.
He explained that although the rector had called for a truce to end the industrial action, only a reversal of the four months’ check-off dues and removal of the rector would make the workers shift ground and unlock the institution.
“We have been occupying the polytechnic’s liaison office in Yenagoa since 11 July. The rector had tried in vain to use force to disperse us by making a false report that we are vandalising the polytechnic’s facilities.
“Armed security men in four vans came to forcefully open the gates, but when they saw no sign of vandalism, they left. We cannot resort to vandalising property left in our care. It is our property and we are poised to protect and not vandalise.
“We have occupied this place and kept vigil here until the check-off dues are restored, we will go nowhere. The rector has called me, and I told him our stand. We are waiting for him to act, and we will unlock the gates,” the labour leader said.
Mr Ebifiye noted that NASU members were tacitly denied promotion as their appraisal forms were not endorsed.
He said, “The rector is not worker-friendly. He has demonstrated that he lacks the capacity to run the institution. What he did is an attempt to kill the union, and we will not succumb to his whims and caprices. We shall ensure that we fight till he is removed from office.
“He directed all the heads of departments and the deans that NASU members should not be appraised, a decision that affects the career progress of hundreds of our members
“As long as NASU members are excluded from the promotion, we will make sure that the promotion exercise doesn’t hold here,” Mr Ebifiye said.
Polytechnic management speaks on dispute
However, in his reaction, Nimizuo Pereseigha, the spokesperson of the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, said the management remains committed to resolving the dispute peacefully through dialogue.
He said the NASU leadership has been rebuffing moves by management to discuss and resolve the labour crisis.
“The management got reports from the workforce that some workers have their union dues remitted to unions they do not belong to. Some workers also got upgraded, for instance, from non-academic to academic cadre, and their union dues still go to NASU, whereas they now belong to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP).
“To resolve this, the management asked the three unions we have here to have their members update their membership status and endorse consent forms.
“Out of three unions, ASUP, NASU and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), ASUP and SSANIP complied and submitted consent forms to validate their memberships, but NASU refused to comply.
“Consequently, management deducted union dues for the two unions that regularised the status of their members and for NASU members, 100 per cent of their salaries were paid without deduction of the two per cent union dues,” Mr Pereseigha said.
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On the alleged exclusion of NASU members from promotion, Mr Pereseigha said that while the NASU members were on strike, the members of other unions completed and submitted their performance assessment forms only to turn back to blame the Rector, Lukman Adegoke for a process concluded while they were on strike.
Mr Pereseigha said the management, as part of the efforts to resolve the dispute, has asked NASU members to fill and submit their appraisal forms to participate in the promotion exercise but they have yet to respond.
The spokesperson said a reconciliation meeting has been scheduled to hold on Sunday evening, to chart a way out of the crisis.
