SSANIP rejects reviewed schemes of service for polys, issues minority report

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) has rejected the schemes of service for Nigerian polytechnics prepared by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) at a recently concluded stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.

In a minority report addressed to the Minister of Education and signed by its National President, Comrade Philip Adebanjo Ogunsipe, SSANIP expressed displeasure, stating that the reviewed schemes introduced wide disparities.

In the letter, the association said it rejected the schemes because they created sharp differences between teaching and non-teaching staff at the entry points of employment. The schemes, it stated, would deny non-teaching staff career progression by preventing movement of staff holding first degrees to CONTEDISS 15 (GL 17 equivalent).

Ogunsipe noted that documentary evidence, including records from the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission confirming the existence of the CONTEDISS 15 salary structure, and similar documents from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, were ignored at the meeting despite their relevance.

The National President criticised comments by the Chairman of the Committee of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology of Nigeria (COHEADS), who stated that rectors and a section of non-teaching staff cannot occupy the same grades on retirement. Ogunsipe described the remarks as demeaning, elitist, discriminatory, and contradictory to public service rules.

Through the minority report, the association “hereby passes a vote of no confidence on the ability of the NBTE to provide a fair, balanced and acceptable scheme of service for polytechnics in Nigeria, given the persistent bias and disregard for extant public service regulations,” Ogunsipe said.

The association appealed to the Minister of Education to review the protest letter with total objectivity, in the interest of equity, industrial harmony, and adherence to established public service norms.

Ogunsipe expressed SSANIP’s strong belief in the minister’s leadership, describing him as a dispassionate public servant.

The association stressed that considering SSANIP’s position would ensure that polytechnic staff are not denied the career rights enjoyed by their counterparts in universities and colleges of education.

SSANIP also rejected the decision taken at the stakeholders’ meeting to exclude the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation from preparing and approving the schemes of service, noting that it is the only federal agency mandated with such responsibility.