Plateau varsity recalls suspended SSANU chairman, secretary

The Plateau State University, Bokkos, has recalled Timnan Rimdap and Dusu Sambo, Chairman and Secretary of the varsity’s chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU, suspended in January.

The recall letter, signed by the institution’s Registrar, Amos Mallo, said that the Governing Council, after considering the Vice Chancellor’s report on the matter, directed that the duo be recalled.

It directed the officials to resume duty immediately, and await further directives.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the officials were suspended in a letter dated January 27, 2017 and signed by the institution’s registrar, Amos Mallo.

Their suspension was for three months during which they received only half of their salaries.

The letter barred the duo – Mr. Rimdap, Head of the ICT unit, and Mr. Sambo of the Academic Planning unit – from being sighted around the school throughout the period of the suspension.

The management had attributed the suspension to “insubordination and lack of respect to constituted authority”, but sources from the Registry traced the development to the duo’s request for deduction of check-off dues of SSANU members.

The management had insisted that it would listen to such request after registering the union, a suggestion SSANU rejected after pointing out that it had been registered at the national level and was merely establishing a local chapter at the young university.

The school also requested members to write individual mandates allowing the school to deduct the dues, a move SSANU also objected, after declaring that the membership register was enough to warrant the deductions.

Efforts to contact the recalled officials were not successful, but a top source from the school indicated that the duo had resumed their duties as directed.