Following the de-accreditation of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba by National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu says he has approved the release of the sum of N450m as salary support to Abia State Polytechnic to immediately pay 4 months out of the salaries owed by the polytechnic.
Recall that last week, NBTE had de-accredited Abia Poly based on non-payment of over 30 months, among others.
The governor had yesterday handed down this assurance when a delegation of student leaders from the tertiary institutions in the state paid him a visit at the governor’s lodge Aba.
Ikpeazu pointed out that though the state government is not responsible for the payment of the salaries of the workers of the polytechnic or any other tertiary institutions in the state, his administration will not abandon the polytechnic.
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- Abia Poly: Ikpeazu moves to restore accreditation with N450m salary support
- Abia Poly: Ikpeazu moves to restore accreditation with N450m salary support
According to him, the state government only owes the institution a monthly subvention of N90m, disclosing that his administration has so far paid a total sum of N7.1b to the polytechnic since he assumed office in 2015, translating to N92m every month for the 78 months he has been in office as governor.
“With this N450m additional support, the polytechnic has received over N7.5m from this administration and I wonder why the institution is unable to manage their internal financial issues since they collect and retain all manner of fees from their students,” the governor said.
He warned that the Polytechnic “must be able to manage what is available to them since they handle their admissions independently and recruit their own staff.”
Ikpeazu made it clear that the mandate of the NBTE does not extend to shutting down an institution on account of labour-related issues since it is not the National Industrial Court.
While expressing his happiness that the student leaders have risen to the occasion by refusing to be used as agents of destabilisation on account of the challenge at Abia Poly, Ikpeazu advised them to be on guard especially as the period of elections draw close as desperate politicians are out to use them to cause confusion in the State.
Speaking earlier, the student leaders drawn from the entire Students Union Government of all the tertiary institutions in the state, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS and the National Association of Abia State Students, NAAS assured the governor that the students were solidly behind him and would not allow those who do not wish our state well to use students as canon fodders.
According to them, those who claimed to be student leaders who purportedly passed a vote of no confidence on the governor were fake and are not students of any institution in Abia state, hence their prompt press conference last week where they expressed their support to the governor.
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