Bauchi speaker begs ASUP to suspend strike

The Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y Suleiman has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi chapter to suspend its ongoing strike so as to allow students to resume academic activities immediately.

Suleiman who made the appeal during a meeting he convened with the management of the Polytechnic led by the Rector, Dr. Alhaji Adamu Sa’idu and leadership of ASUP, ATAP led by its Chairman, Malam Dahiru Musa at his residence, Sunday in Bauchi.

Suleiman who expressed his concern and that of the honourable members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly on the long stay of students at home due to the strike, which came few months after the yearold COVID-19 outbreak said the strike portends a serious setback to the educational pursuit of students of the state.

He pledged to take up the demands of the striking polytechnic lecturers to Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammad immediately with a view to resolving all the issues raised.

In his remarks, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Sa’idu thanked the speaker for intervening on the matter, which he described as statesmanship and patriotism, adding that the management had made all efforts to avert the strike so that academic activities will continue after being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic but the union resisted.

He also appealed to the union to heed the patriotic calls of the management, the State Assembly, the government and good people of Bauchi State to suspend the strike while the issues and demands of the union were being resolved.

Responding, the Chairman of the Union, Malam Dahiru Musa said that they had already presented their demands, which included the issues of implementation of promotion, yearly salary increment and third party deductions to the Head of Service but were not satisfied with the conditions given by him.

While appreciating the speaker and the Head of Service for intervening, the chairman urged him to take up their demands to the governor and ensure that a written agreement on the implementation dateline was obtained.

On the request of the speaker that the strike should be suspended while he took up the matter to appropriate quarters, Malam Musa promised to take up the request to the members of the union for their approval.