ASUU Taraba Chapter Denies Role in VC Suspension Meeting, Cites Legal Breach
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Taraba State University (TSU) has firmly denied participating in a meeting that led to the reported suspension of Vice Chancellor Professor Sunday Paul Bako and dissolution of the university’s Governing Council. The denial directly counters a report by a Taraba-based newspaper, which claimed that ASUU and other unions were present at a meeting with Governor Agbu Kefas where the decisions were made.
In a statement, ASUU-TSU Chairman Dr. Joshua Garba Mbave called the report “false, misleading and malicious.” He asserted that the union was neither invited nor involved in any such discussion with the state government. “ASUU wishes to unequivocally state that at no time was the union invited to, nor did it participate in, any meeting with the Taraba State Government where such decisions were taken or discussed,” the statement read.
The union’s position is grounded in the university’s founding law. Dr. Mbave cited Law No. 4 of 2008, which establishes Taraba State University, noting it outlines specific statutory procedures for the appointment and removal of principal officers. He argued that the law does not grant any authority unilateral power to suspend a Vice Chancellor, dissolve the Governing Council, or install a Sole Administrator. “Any action taken outside these statutory provisions is ultra vires, null and void, and of no effect,” he stated.
ASUU-TSU has demanded an immediate retraction and public apology from the media organization for the alleged misrepresentation. The union clarified that its existing industrial dispute with the state government is entirely separate from the reported suspension. Its core grievances include the absence of a functional pension scheme, non-payment of 2022 salaries, uncleared Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), and the non-implementation of the 2025 ASUU-FGN Agreement effective from January 2026.
Dr. Mbave noted these issues have been formally communicated to Governor Kefas’s administration, calling for urgent action to restore industrial harmony and reopen the university. He expressed concern over two staff screening committees and a Visitation Panel set up by the government within two years, whose reports remain unpublished and unimplemented. “This failure has left the university community in a state of uncertainty,” he said.
The union stressed it will not be drawn into matters it did not endorse, maintaining that its demands are lawful and focused on protecting the university’s integrity, autonomy, and stability. ASUU-TSU insists that resolving these outstanding issues is essential to ending the ongoing dispute and resuming teaching, learning, and research activities at the institution.
The situation highlights a clash over university governance in Taraba State, with ASUU invoking legal statutes to challenge executive actions while pressing for the resolution of long-standing staff welfare issues that have kept the university closed.
