Disengaged staff of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba have called on the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti OFR, to constitute a judicial panel of inquiry to ascertain the rots in the institution for several years.
The disengaged staff who include: former Chairman Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, Abiapoly chapter, Comrade Nwachukwu Chuks; former Director of sports, Mrs Edith Nwakiere; Ifeyinwa Ekezie, former member of the governing council, former head of department, guardians and counseling, Dr. Azu Oko, Comrade Peter Igwe among others made the call while interacting with newsmen in Aba.
They told journalists that Governor Otti needs to know the illegality, corruption that have taken a centre stage and other ills that had happened in the institution from 2013 till date.
While appealing to Otti to publish the report of a committee constituted by the then Commissioner for Education in Abia State, Professor Ikechi Mgboji, the disengaged staff disclosed that the state government refused to make the report of the committee public, but went ahead to issue compulsory termination of appointment letters and also compulsory retirement of others.
According to them, their disengagement was politically motivated, and that the government of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu that transferred Dr Eze Nwokocha, as well as others over allegation of over population, also employed their own candidates including two medical doctors.
They further revealed that they approached the industrial court in Owerri praying the court to quash what they called “illegal disengagement and also to return them back to work”.
The disengaged staff however revealed that even when the embattled Dr Nwokocha got justice through the industrial court, the management of Abia polytechnic vehemently refused to re-instate him.
“Since they sacked us, the school is still downsizing and employing”. There have been a lot of misinformation about the school and the then commissioners for Information and Education were using intimidation to shout the union leaders down”.
“From the two billion naira loan the council took, the council paid only five months arrears to workers. They said 100 million was used to cut grasses and twelve million to fight ebola”.
Meanwhile, effort made to hear from the management of the polytechnic did not yield good results because the public relations officer of Abia State Polytechnic Aba, Stella Nwakanma did not reply to a text message sent to her.
