April 11, 2018
By Ijendu Iheaka
The Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Prof. Ezionye Eboh on Wednesday said the institution’s striking workers were using the strike to threaten release of a panel report which indicted some of them.
Eboh disclosed this in his office on Wednesday in an interview with our correspondent in Aba.
He said that the report which had been completed and ready to be released would be made public as soon as the state government ratifies it adding that it would send some staff home.
“There is this review panel that was set up with regards to their certificates to ensure the persons who are in the employment of the institution are those qualified to be here,
“I am sure they have heard that the report of that review is out and they are orchestrating a new fangled falsehood in order to ensure the report is damned”, he said.
He said that the panel was set up to verify the certificates of the staff in order to manage the huge wage bill of the institution which as at February 2017 stood at N180 million.
He noted that since assumption of office in February 2017, he had struggled to stabilize the institution by reducing its wage bill from N180 million to N160 million and by paying salaries.
Eboh admitted owing the staff nine months salary which he said was inherited at the onset of his regime adding that they were making efforts to pay some salaries by the third week of April.
He said that the payment of a contractor with the money from Paris Refund was a process which started before he assumed office and because court order was involved, he could not stop it.
Speaking on queries given to union leaders, Eboh said that the management threats all staff equally adding that those who received queries did so for failing to abide by the polytechnic’s rules.
He alleged that politicians had infiltrated the unions in order to tarnish the image of the state government and the management of the institution to get issues for electoral campaign hence the strike.
He said that although the staff were not coming to the campus, the institution would still hold its matriculation ceremony.
Earlier, Mr Chucks Nwachukwu, Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, (SSANIP) Abia state Polytechnic chapter had said that they joined the strike on Wednesday because of the management's treatment of the staff.
He said that the unions gave the management information of the strike two weeks ago without any response from them thus prompting the ASUP to start strike on Monday.
Nwachukwu said that they are demanding payment of 11 months salary arrears which the new management had refused to pay them but instead used Paris refund money made for it to pay a contractor.
He also said that the management had been deducting their Cooperative society contributions amounting to the tune of N200 million without remitting it to them.
He alleged that the union leaders have been receiving queries by the management since January 2018 because of their demands for the rights of Abia Poly workers instead of attending to their needs.
He said that the management had failed the polytechnic community and demanded the state government to investigate and removal the management.
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