Oyo owes polytechnic lecturers 10-month salary – ASUP

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki chapter, have appealed to the Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi to pay their outstanding salaries, running to 10 months.

The chairman of the union, Mr. Muyiwa Olawumi, said that members of the union were suffering financially with some of them being forced to withdraw their children from schools because of their inability to pay their school fees.

He said that the state government decision to reduce subvention to the state-owned tertiary institutions to 25 per cent per month had crippled the financial capacity of the school to pay salaries and complete some developmental project of the school which recently got autonomy to operate as an independent institution.

He said, “Members of the union passionately appeal to Governor Ajimobi led-administration in the state to as a matter of urgency pay all our outstanding salaries and arrears.

“We also call on the state government to adequate fund the young institution and other tertiary institutions in the state.

“We want the governor to release of take-off grant for Oke-Ogun Polytechnic. Our members can no longer afford to pay their children school fees while the sick among us cannot go to the hospital for treatment because there is no money.”

Asked if the union had approached the governor to table its demands, Olawumi said that several options had been exploited to make the government understand the predicament of the staff and the school with no success.

He said the ASUP members could resolve to embark on strike soon. He added that the union had directed members to embark on three days prayer and fasting with the hope that the problem would be solved soonest.

Illegal polytechnic uncovered in Ekiti by EFCC

The Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned in a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti an illegal polytechnic operator.

The alleged illegal operator, Johnson Babatola, was arraigned before Justice Taiwo Taiwo on a seven-count charge bordering on Advance Fee Fraud and operation of illegal Polytechnic.

Babatola, a former Principal Manager of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ado-Ekiti branch, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The EFCC said that the suspect was arrested following a petition from the National Board for Technical Education in Kaduna, alleging that he was operating an illegal Polytechnic named Teedek Polytechnic at Ilogbo, Ekiti State.

The board said that the accused had allegedly extorted gullible students, who were not aware of the status of the institution.

The petitioner further alleged that some of the students of the Polytechnic had earlier reported the institution to the board and they had published the school as an illegal institution in some National Dailies.

It said that the accused failed to stop the fraudulent act and as such continued to fleece innocent students through the Polytechnic.

The petitioner said that Babatola had sometime between August, 2013 and March 2015 intended to defraud Adakeja Thomas Olusola at Ilogbo Ekiti within the jurisdiction of the court.

The accused had intended obtaining the sum of N118,000 from Adakeja, having falsely represented that the money was tuition fees.

The EFCC said that the accused had told the victim that money was for the award of National Diploma Certificate by Teedek Polytechnic.

The offence contravened section 1 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.

His counsel, Clatus Nachata, applied for his bail, which the prosecuting counsel, Sanusi Galadanchi, opposed.

The Judge after listening to the argument of both counsel, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like sum.

Taiwo said that one of the sureties must be the traditional ruler of Ilogbo-Ekiti and the second surety must be one of those sureties during the administrative bail earlier granted him by the EFCC.

He said that both sureties shall depose to an affidavit of means and all the documents verified by the EFCC during his administrative bail shall be deposited with the registrar of the court.

The accused person shall deposit his international passport with the court and be remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of his bail conditions.

Taiwo adjourned the case till October 18, October 24 and October 27 for hearing.