- Sanwo-Olu: ‘Disengaged staff must submit appeal letter within 7 Days
- We’ll deal with troublemakers, governor warns
Worried
by the lingering industrial crisis rocking the Lagos State Polytechnic
(LASPOTECH), Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, constituted a Visitation
Panel with a task to investigate all contentious issues that are setting the
staff union of the school against the management.
Governor Sanwo-Olu also ordered members of staff earlier disengaged by the
management to forward their letters of appeal to the school’s Governing Council
within seven (7) days for a review of the process of their disengagement, but
with a condition that the appeal letters get endorsed by the Head of Service to
ensure transparency in the review process.
The Governor expressed concern over the effects of the protracted crisis on the
wellbeing of the school, noting that the prevailing situation had affected the
morale of law-abiding employees of the institution, as well as the academic
performance of its students.
Governor
Sanwo-Olu said the Government was aware of the humiliation and denigration that
the Governing Council and management of the school had endured in the last six
months when this impasse began, calling on all stakeholders to keep peace in
the interest of the students.
The Governor said: “By the powers conferred on me as Governor of Lagos state, I
hereby order the constitution of a Visitation Panel to the Institution to
investigate all contentious issues and submit its recommendations for my
consideration.
“The State Government, without prejudice to an earlier rebuff of its
magnanimous gesture to re-consider the disengagement of some employees of the
Institution, is once again asking disengaged Officers who are willing to
continue their service in the institution to forward their letters of appeal to
the institution’s Governing Council within seven days for a review of their
disengagement. Copies of such letters should be duly endorsed to the Head of
Service for an unbiased review of the process leading to their disengagement.
“Employees of the institution should note that they are under contractual
obligation to perform optimally as stated in the terms of their employment. Any
acts that are contrary to this shall be treated in accordance with the Public
Service Rules, other extant regulations and the Labour Laws.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration appreciated the role a strong,
dynamic and enlightened academic union is playing in entrenching culture of
industrial harmony and development, he however said his government would not
bend to blackmail and be hoodwinked by “a union that continues to carry out its
agitations in a manner that threatens and is becoming inimical to the peace of
the state.”
He warned any member of the school bent on breaching the peace in the school,
saying such person would be dealt with in accordance with the law. “For the
avoidance of doubt, all acts capable of disrupting academic activities,
breaching a conducive working environment and peaceful co-existence in the
Institution shall be dealt with in accordance with the Laws,” the Governor
said.
The Governor praised students of the school for their “peaceful conduct” in the
face of the “needless crisis”, wishing them good luck in their forthcoming
examination.
Sanwo-Olu assured that normalcy would be restored and sustained in the
institution, while ensuring safety and security of all members of the school
during and after the examination.
