The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) has called on the federal and state governments to take urgent steps to alleviate the economic hardship, insecurity and tax burden faced by Nigerians, especially its members.
The association made the call in a communique issued at the end of its 129th General Executive Council (GEC) in Abuja.
The communique, which was signed by SSANIP national president, Comrade Adebanjo Ogunsipe and the national secretary, Comrade Nura Shehu Gaya, highlighted the resolutions of the council on various issues affecting the nation and the polytechnic sector.
It noted the growing situation of food insecurity and general economic hardship and urged the government to speed up interventionist policies implementation to ameliorate the hardship.
The association therefore urged the federal government to be more proactive under the current circumstance and also strongly advised the government at the state levels to justify the reported huge increase in allocation to them through responsive and commensurate palliative gestures to their citizens.
The council also noted the growing complaints from branches on the draconian ‘pay as you earn’ tax regime on its members. and resolved that the government at all levels should endeavour to critically look into this controversial tax regime with a view to appropriately reviewing the same in line with the current economic realities in the country.
SSANIP equally urged the Head of Service of the Federation to ensure that action is expedited on the release of the new scheme of service document for the use of polytechnics in the country.
The council also said it was taken aback by the non-constitution of governing councils in all Federal Polytechnics and some State Polytechnics such as The Ibadan, The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, etc and implored the affected governments to ensure the due constitution of the governing councils in these institutions without further delay to avoid strained industrial relations.
The council also expressed displeasure at the government’s continued indifference to the issue of implementation of the approved tertiary institutions salary review, even when the cost implications had been captured in the 2023 budget.
SSANIP charged relevant authorities to ensure the implementation without further delay so as to avoid a possible industrial dispute.
