The face-off between the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Prof. Idris Bugaje, and the Rector of the Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr. Suleiman Umar, over the latter’s appointment as the institution’s substantive rector after expiration of his tenure, is far from being over.
This is because stakeholders of the institution are now at loggerhead following the crisis which has continued unabated since last year.
Trouble started when the Governing Council of the Kaduna Polytechnic led by 90-year-old Senator Mohammed Mohammed on November 17, 2021, approved the extension of another six months for the Rector, Dr. Suleiman Umar, to serve in an acting capacity.
This, the NBTE boss kicked against because it violated the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019 that forbids such further extension.
“In the case of vacancy in the office of the Rector, the Council shall appoint an Acting Rector who should not be in office for more than six months,” a copy of the Polytechnic Act obtained by our correspondent read.
But the development never go down well with some stakeholders who claimed the nation’s regulatory body of polytechnics was meddling into the affairs of the institution.
Against this background, Mohammed Abdullahi, a stakeholder in the Polytechnic sector, has written the Minister of Education, Dr. Adamu Adamu to wade into the matter with a view to resolving it.
He also alleged that the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje opposed the appointment of Dr Suleiman Umar as the substantive Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic because he has a case to answer with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
This was just as the Kaduna Polytechnic Stakeholders Forum alleged that the NBTE Executive Secretary, was out to deliberately scuttle the process of the appointment of a substantive Rector for the institution.
A statement by the Chairman and Secretary of the Forum, Mal. Musa Muhammad and Mr. Joseph Kazachan, alleged that the NBTE boss’s action has shown that he would rather have Kaduna Polytechnic burnt than allow the Acting Rector, Dr Sulaiman Umar be the substantive Rector.
According to the Forum, “having realized that the Acting Rector, Dr Sulaiman Umar, got the highest scores during the recent interview, Professor Bugaje has been making effort to see that either a candidate other than Dr Umar is appointed or the entire process is reversed.”
Meanwhile, Abdullahi in his letter to the Minister backing the position of NBTE boss, alleged that the Polytechnic’s Governing Council which is bent on appointing the Acting Rector despite several illegalities was disqualifying other candidates who are more qualified for the job.
He argued that Dr. Umar’s core competence was not in technical education but in Mathematics Education, adding that in a modern polytechnic, it would amount to a grave error to appoint someone whose strength is hinged on “Philosophy of Mathematics” than having the requisite technical knowledge to head a polytechnic.
Abdullahi, however, asked the minister to wade into the matter, saying the minister’s silence was no longer golden in the face of the problem in Kaduna Polytechnic.
“Anyone conversant with your antecedents must be at a loss why you have looked the other way, while a crisis of monumental proportion is threatening to destroy the Kaduna Polytechnic over the appointment of a substantive rector,” he said.
The letter read in parts, “From the news stories and commentaries trailing the narratives on the matter, it is clear that allowing the Ag. Rector, Dr Suleiman Umar, to continue serving in his present capacity violates the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019.
“Honourable Minister, the current probe of Dr Umar by the Independent Corrupt and Malpractices Commission (ICPC) over award of some IGR contracts in the past eight months does not make your silence golden.
“The Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council had on November 17, 2021 lawlessly approved the extension of another six months for Dr. Umar to continue serving as Ag. Rector even when the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019 clearly states: “In the case of vacancy in the office of the Rector, the Council shall appoint an Acting Rector who should not be in office for more than six month.
“The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris M. Bugaje, in November 2021 wrote a letter to Federal Ministry of Education, through the Director, Polytechnics, harping on the need to quickly overturn the premeditated illegality of the Governing Council.
“Without mincing words, the NBTE declared: “This action of the Council amounts to violation of the Polytechnic Act and the ministry should approve steps to reverse this illegality. I had advised the Ag. Rector and Registrar verbally not to embark on extension of tenures but to no avail”.
It added, “It is pathetic that despite invitation by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education on both the Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council and other relevant officials last years; it is weird that the illegality foisted on the polytechnic has not been terminated, instead the Council is irrevocably committed to appointing Dr Umar as a substantive rector.
“Honourable Minister, the deliberate exclusion of a university don from Kaduna State University (KASU), Professor Muhammad. S. Yahaya, is a clear pointer that the Governing Council is determined at all costs to pave the way for Dr. Umar’s appointment as substantive rector.
“The exclusion was aimed at arriving at a predetermined outcome of ensuring better candidates than Dr Umar are excluded from the interview process. Wherein the world was it ever heard that a professor was excluded from an interview conducted to appoint someone to head a polytechnic on account of their being a professor?
“Insiders’ accounts have it that the Governing Council, in collaboration with top officials of Federal Ministry of Education, has completed arrangements to appoint Dr Umar as substantive rector even if the heavens would fall.
“For such to happen in a ministry headed by your respectful person is most unfortunate. Some of us that are conversant with your sterling leadership qualities are at a loss why such an embarrassing episode is allowed to fester unchallenged under your able leadership.
“More worrisome is the fact that Dr. Umar’s core competence is not in technical education, but in Math Education.”
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