Pantami  professorship: ASUU lacks powers to sanction FUTO under Trade Union law -Lawyer

An Abakaliki based Legal Practitioner  Barrister  Iheanacho Agboti, on Thursday restated that the leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) lacks the legitimate Right/Powers  under the the Trade Union (Amendment) Act 2005, to sanction the Management of Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Owerri over alleged infraction.

Barrister Agboti made the assertion  in Abakiliki the Ebonyi State  capital while reacting to the threat by ASUU to suspend the management of the ivory Tower over the professorship it conferred to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Professor Isa Ali Pantami.

The Legal Luminary emphasized that only the University Governing Council  that is bestowed with such Powers under Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2012 as (Amended).

According to him, “Am  a lawyer and the truth is that ASUU lacks the power under the Nigerian Trade Union laws to sanction the Management of Federal University of Technology (FUTO) over the supposed infraction”

“ASUU is ignorant of the facts and this is worrisome, there is nowhere under the Trade Union (Amendment) Act 2005 (which is the legislation guiding the operations of all Trade Unions in Nigeria,including ASUU), that gives ASUU the power to sanction a University Management for a supposed infraction.

“And the law guiding the affairs of all Federal Universities  in Nigeria is the Universities (Miscellaneous  Provisions)(Amendment) Act 2012.

“Under this law, University Management can only be sanctioned by its Governing Council not ASUU”, he explained.

Barrister Agboti further called on the leadership of ASUU to redress it’s step or face litigation, insisting that ASUU was stepping out of its  scope.

It would be recalled that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had on Monday described the Professorship  conferred  by the institution to the Minister as illegal.

The Union threatened to sanction its members including the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri and other senior Management Staffs of the institution