By Philip Yatai

The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), said on Monday that the re-appointment of Dr. Sulaiman Umar as Acting Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic had violated provisions of the Polytechnic Act 2019.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Prof. Idris Bugaje, stated this at a news conference in Kaduna, while reacting to an allegation of meddling into the affairs of the polytechnic.

The polytechnic’s Stakeholders Forum had accused Bugaje of meddling into the affairs of the institution when he described the tenure elongation of Umar as “illegal”.

The forum in a statement issued by its Chairman, Malam Musa Muhammad in Kaduna on Dec. 9, asked Bugaje to refrain from undue interference into the affairs of the polytechnic.

Bugaje, however, insisted that the tenure elongation beyond the six months, as provided for in the Act was a clear violation of the law.

“The Act clearly states that no Acting Rector should stay beyond six months and NBTE is only making sure that all Polytechnics  comply with the provision.

“But Kaduna Polytechnic has decided to extend the tenure beyond six months and when I drew their attention to it, they accused me of meddling.

“As the Executive Secretary of the regulatory body, it is my job to ensure that all Polytechnics operate within the provision of the Polytechnic Act,” he said.

The NBTE boss hinted that the board had notified the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Assembly on the anomaly and recommended reversal of the action in line with the law.

“In fact, the Governing Council and the management of the polytechnic will appear before the Senate on Thursday, to explain why they extended the tenure beyond six months as provided for in the Act,” Bugaje said.