Professor protests exclusion from Kadpoly Rectorship interview

By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

Professor Mohammed Sani Yahaya has petitioned the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, on purported infractions of the Polytechnic Act by Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council.

He accused Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council of defying the Polytechnic Act by disqualifying him as a candidate who applied for the post of the Rector Kaduna Polytechnic on the grounds that he is a professor teaching in a university.

According to a petition copy made available to journalists on Tuesday in Kaduna, the professor asked the Polytechnic Governing Council to reconsider and rescind its decision in the interest of justice, fairness and the rule of law. 

The petition states that a vacancy exists for the post of Rector Kaduna Polytechnic as advertised in the Daily Trust newspaper of Friday, September 3rd, 2021 and Prof. Mohammed Sani Yahaya put in his application on Tuesday, October 12th, 2021.

However, he was not invited for the interview scheduled for January 11th and 12th, 2022 by the Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council.

The Registrar of the institution and Secretary to the Council informed Prof. Yahaya that the invitation for interview was not extended to him because the Governing Council has decided that a professor is unqualified for the post of Rector and the disqualification was final and irreversible. 

“I have been illegally excluded from the interview for the Post of Rector Kaduna in a gross violation of my unalienable right and out of the four candidates that rose to the rank of Chief Lecturer in Kaduna Polytechnic, three including the Acting Rector of the institution were invited for the interview, while I was deliberately excluded. That was very unfair.” said Prof. Yahaya, a lecturer with Kaduna State University. “I believe I was also discriminated against on purpose in favour of a selected few candidates for the post of The Rector Kaduna Polytechnic while we are all equal in the sight of the law, this treatment is totally unfair.” 

The petitioner presented facts and documents to substantiate the merit of his claims and objection to the decision of the Council. He further argued that the Governing Council should review and reverse its decision because it goes against the Polytechnic Act 2019.

Prof. Yahaya said he has written personal appeal for the intervention of the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Zazzau, the Honorable Minister for Education, the Honorable Minister of Justice, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND, the Chairman, House Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education and other influential individuals urging them to impress on the Council to do the right thing. 

Prof. Yahaya is an Irrigation Agronomist and former Head, Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kaduna State University.