The Academic Staff Union of Universities stated on Tuesday that it was not within the reach of the National Universities Commission and other regulating bodies for tertiary institutions to close schools so that students in universities, polytechnics, and institutes of education may cast their votes in the upcoming elections.
Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the union head at the Federal University of Technology in Minna and a member of ASUU’s National Executive Council, made this statement in an interview.
He was responding to calls for the nation’s higher educational institutions to be closed during elections so that students who enrolled close to their homes and returned home to vote. These calls came from people and organisations, including the House of Representatives.
He said, “The NUC is just a regulatory body. It doesn’t have the power to order the closure of any university. The only authority that can order this closure apart from the Senate of each institution is the Federal Ministry of Education and the order will be given on behalf of the visitor to all the universities, which is the President.
“By the time the ministry gives the order, the NUC will comply and the directives will be passed down. The House of Representatives should talk to the President about this. The NUC is powerless on this matter.”
The House of Representatives last week Thursday passed a resolution asking the NUC to shut universities so that the students can take part in the forthcoming elections.