A fresh crisis is looming at the Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aleibiri, as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Aleibiri Chapter, has rejected queries issued to some Heads of Department, Directors and Deans over their failure to attend an Academic Board meeting.
The union described the queries as unacceptable, insisting that its members were acting in compliance with a directive from the union not to attend meetings convened or chaired by the retired former Rector of the institution.
The development followed an internal memo dated September 3, 2026, signed by the Polytechnic’s Registrar, Mrs. Patience Zuokemefa, in which a Head of Department, Mr. Brisibe Ernest, was queried for allegedly failing to attend an Academic Board meeting held on September 2.
In the memo, the Registrar, acting on the directive of the Rector, accused the HOD of failing to give prior notice of his inability to attend the meeting or provide an explanation, describing the absence as an act capable of sabotaging the academic progress of the institution.
The management also noted that staff salaries had been paid promptly on September 1 and argued that there was no reasonable justification for a member of the Academic Board to be absent from an important meeting.
The affected staff member was given 48 hours to explain his absence, failing which the matter would be referred to the appropriate quarters for further disciplinary action.
However, ASUP, in a response signed by its chapter chairman, Dr. Oyin-Emi Frank Ogbomah, said the affected academic staff acted in accordance with the union’s directive.
The union said the directive to Heads of Department, Directors and Deans not to attend meetings convened or chaired by the retired former Rector originated from the ASUP chapter and was in strict compliance with the mandate of its national body.
ASUP maintained that, as a registered trade union representing serving academic staff, it does not recognise a retiree and member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners as Rector of any polytechnic.
The union further argued that it was not aware of any polytechnic in Nigeria where a retired Rector issues directives to serving academic staff.
It also contended that no tertiary institution owned by the Bayelsa State Government is currently headed, or has previously been headed, by a pensioner.
“ASUP members are not bound by directives issued by a retiree and will not accept such an anomaly,” the union declared.
The latest development could reopen the industrial dispute that recently rocked the Polytechnic after ASUP embarked on strike over the controversial reappointment of the retired former Rector.
The union, however, said it suspended the strike action out of respect for the intervention of the Bayelsa State Government and the Visitor to the Polytechnic, Governor Douye Diri.
According to ASUP, its immediate priority is to return to the classroom and resume teaching its students.
The union nevertheless demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all queries issued to its members for refusing to attend meetings with the retired former Rector.
ASUP warned that failure to withdraw the queries would compel the union to escalate the matter through appropriate industrial channels.
The renewed disagreement has therefore raised concerns over the possibility of another confrontation between the Polytechnic management and the academic staff union, barely weeks after the suspension of the strike.
ASUP copied its National President and the Zonal Coordinator, Zone D, in the response, signalling that the matter could be taken beyond the chapter level if no resolution is reached.
Nigerdeltaheraldngr.com reports the visitor Senator Douye Diri recently admitted the he was wrongly advised on the appointment of the controversial Rector Wisdom Clinton Soreh.
While inaugurating the newly formed Bayelsa State Advisory Council express concerns over the resultant backlash.
With the Governor having previously intervened in the matter and acknowledged that he was wrongly advised over the controversial appointment, stakeholders are watching closely to see whether the latest disagreement will be resolved before it degenerates into another industrial crisis at the Polytechnic.