by Oke Efagene

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has suspended its chairman, Ifeanyi Abada, and 2 members of the executive committee, Christy Obikeguna and Omenma Tochukwu.

The union announced the appointment of former secretary, Aaron Agbo, as the acting chairman, after an emergency congress held on Friday at the Nsukka campus.

Also appointed were Jude Chukwu (acting secretary), Ifeoma Nzekwe (acting financial secretary) and Engineer Omah (welfare officer).

According to reports by The Guardian:

In its resolutions, signed by Agbo and Chukwu, the congress stated that the suspension of Abada followed his failure to prioritise the welfare of members, and working to deprive members of their entitlements on earned allowances.

The congress also faulted Abada for failing to present the union’s account to the congresses of the Nsukka and Enugu campuses before forwarding it to the National Executive Committee (NEC), as required by ASUU financial regulations.

According to the congress, Abada also violated “strike by supervising postgraduate students; attending departmental board meetings during the last nationwide strike of the union, to sign the resumption register opened by the university administration on November 9, 2013 against the NEC directive; deceiving members by presenting several issues, which he claimed were decisions of the Joint Action Congress (JAC) when JAC did not make such decisions, as was rightly reflected in the disclaimer by National Association of Academic Technologists, (NAAT), and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), two of the four unions in the university.

 The congress also declared as inconsequential and invalid the earlier purported suspension of Agbo, saying it did not follow due process and was based on unverified accusations.

 The congress condemned the role played by some executive members of the union in the suspension of the former secretary, which necessitated the suspension of Tochukwu Omenma and Mrs. Christy Obikeguna.

While mandating the suspended officers to hand over union property in their custody to the acting chairman, the congress implored the new executive to address with all urgency welfare issues concerning members, especially the payment of allowances.