Ado Polytechnic suspends students union activities

The management of the Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti has announced the suspension of all students union activities in the institution.

Students of the Polytechnic had on Friday staged a protest over what they described as an alleged imposition of candidates by the management during the students union elections.

The Director, Protocol, Information and Public Relations of the school, Mr Ade Adeyemi-Adejolu in a statement made available to Tribune Online in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday said students have been asked to vacate their hostels and proceed on compulsory one week break.

He noted that decision to suspend the students union activities was reached at the combined meeting of the Polytechnic’s Academic Board and Management.

While expressing regret over the students protest, Adejolu denied allegations of imposition of candidates on both students and staff unions in the campus, saying “the management only engaged in monitoring the process by ensuring that the rules set for themselves are strictly adhered to under a well-secured atmosphere”.

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He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, it has never been in the tradition of the institution’s management to impose candidates under any guise in the electoral process of all unions (staff and students) of the Polytechnic.

“For over two decades now, students union electoral processes are run and conducted by the student themselves through their accredited representatives called APECO. The management only engaged in monitoring the process by ensuring that the rules set for themselves are strictly adhered to under a well-secured atmosphere. The management was very surprised at the last unprovoked protest and unverified allegation of the imposition of candidates.

” As a matter of fact, a combined meeting of the Polytechnic’s Academic Board and Management held and affirmed as follows that all students residing on Campus should promptly vacate the campus accommodation on a week’s compulsory break; students are to resume as from Sunday 10th November 2019; second semester examination to commence on Tuesday, 12th November, 2019.

“Embargo has been placed on students union activities with immediate effect.”

The statement added that an eleven-man committee has been constituted to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the students’ protest.