YENAGOA — The crisis in Bayelsa State’s tertiary education sector has deepened, with academic activities already disrupted at the Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aleibiri, while the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to three state-owned universities in the state.
The development has raised concerns of a wider industrial crisis in the state’s tertiary institutions, coming barely a day after the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, commenced an indefinite withdrawal of academic services at the Bayelsa State Polytechnic.
The ASUU ultimatum affects Niger Delta University (NDU), University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT), and Bayelsa Medical University (BMU).
The union accused the affected state-owned universities and their proprietors of failing to implement provisions of the 2025 agreement reached between the Federal Government and ASUU, prompting the union’s National Executive Council to authorise the affected branches to commence processes towards industrial action.
The decision followed the union’s National Executive Council meeting held at the University of Abuja on Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9, 2026.
In a statement issued on Monday, ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, said the affected branches had been authorised to issue 14-day ultimatums and proceed with strike action if their demands were not satisfactorily addressed within the period.
The development was also reported on Rhythm FM 94.7, Yenagoa, on Monday, drawing attention to the growing labour tensions across Bayelsa’s tertiary education institutions.
The ASUU action comes as students and staff of the Bayelsa State Polytechnic are already facing disruption following ASUP’s decision to withdraw academic services indefinitely.
ASUP’s Aleibiri chapter is protesting the reappointment of the institution’s retired former Rector, Dr. Wisdom Clinton Soreh, for another four-year term.
The union had earlier issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Polytechnic’s Governing Council, demanding a reversal of what it described as an unlawful reappointment that failed to comply with the provisions of the Bayelsa State Polytechnic Establishment Law.
The ultimatum expired on August 7, after negotiations between the union and a sub-committee of the Governing Council ended without an agreement. ASUP subsequently commenced its indefinite withdrawal of services from Monday, August 10.
However, the Polytechnic’s Governing Council has defended the reappointment, insisting that the decision was lawful and based on statutory provisions, the Rector’s performance and legal advice.
The Council, chaired by DIG Mike Odogu Zuokumor (rtd.), said the Bayelsa State Polytechnic Establishment Law provides for a four-year tenure with provision for one reappointment and does not prescribe an age limit for the Rector.
The simultaneous disputes involving ASUP and ASUU have therefore placed Bayelsa’s tertiary education sector under considerable pressure.
While the Polytechnic dispute is centred on the reappointment of its Rector, the ASUU dispute is linked to the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement at the three state-owned universities.
If the issues are not resolved before the expiration of the ASUU ultimatum, the affected university branches could commence industrial action, potentially leaving students across the state’s major tertiary institutions facing further disruption to their academic programmes.
The emerging situation is consequently being viewed as a major test of the Bayelsa State Government’s capacity to manage industrial relations within its tertiary education system and prevent the current disputes from developing into a broader shutdown of academic activities.
For students, parents and other stakeholders, the immediate concern is now whether the government and the various institutions can engage the unions and resolve the outstanding issues before the two industrial disputes escalate.
With ASUP already on strike at the Polytechnic and ASUU counting down its 14-day ultimatum at three state-owned universities, Bayelsa’s tertiary education sector is facing a potentially wider academic crisis.