The Rector of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Nigeria, is said to have engaged in so much illegal acts that he has attracted the attention of one of the anti-graft agencies.
A source who spoke to
this magazine on condition of anonymity said the anti-
corruption agency’s
intervention became necessary after a petition to it on alleged fraudulent
mismanagement and flagrant abuse of extant rules and due process by the Rector.
It is alleged that the
Rector employs unqualified lecturers (some HND holders, other youth corps
members) on part-time basis, which is said to be against the basic requirement
for lecturers (whether on part-time or permanent basis) in the polytechnics,
which is first degree (upper credit). It is said that even these part-time
lecturers are not paid as and when due.
Another allegation is
the continued illegal running of the Human Resource Development Centre in spite
of government directive to desist, owing to the fact that courses offered by
the department are not accredited.
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| Mr. Dauda Gyemang,Rector Plataeu State Ploytechnic |
It is said that in
2008, the polytechnic entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the
Federal University of Technology, Minna for the running of Postgraduate Diploma
in Education, Science and Technical Education, but none of the 40 students
admitted at the inception of the programme in 2008/2009 has so far graduated.
In its June 2016 publication, the FACT
FINDER, a Jos based publication, gave a catalogue of other illegal acts
allegedly perpetrated by the Rector to include a scam when an MoU was entered
into by the institution with a company, SoftQuest, for the provision of
facilities and running of the ICT centre of the institution, where students are
compelled to pay a fee of N4,000 annually as ICT levy and another N1,500 for
ICT computer practical. It is said that while the building exists at the Jos
campus of the polytechnic, it is alleged that there are no functional computers
in it.
According to the
publication, the polytechnic management is further said to have awarded five
TETFund projects in the institution to Moses Pwol Limited. The projects are at
40 per cent completion while some other contracts lasted for over six years.
Lack of diligence on the part of the contractors handling the TETFund projects,
even after paying some of them half of the contract sum, is said to be
responsible for the delay in completion.
The publication also
reported that it was also worrisome that a ghost project for the construction
of new administration block, which was said to be ongoing through direct
labour, was said to have consumed the total sum of N41,661,492.78. Another
logjam is the construction of a block of three classrooms and offices at Jos
campus where the project stood at 50 per cent completion through direct labour,
and is said to have gulped a total sum of N38,096,900.
Many pundits observed
that if these allegations are true, it would amount to blatant disregard for
the extant financial regulations on the awards of contracts and procurement
and contravention of the law by the management, and as such, suggested that
management of the institution should be made to face Article 16 of the
Polytechnic Act which categorically states that, “If it appears to the Council
that a member of the Council (other than an ex-officio member) or the Rector
should be removed from office on the ground of misconduct or inability to
perform the functions of his office, the Council shall make a recommendation to
that effect to the Visitor, after making such inquiries as he considers
necessary, approves the recommendation, the Visitor shall, in writing, declare
the office of such member vacant.”
There is something fishy going on here.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it is hard to believe that things like this exist in our educational institutions where vividly things go wrong. But what I may suggest is for the Rector to make things clear for everybody to trust and believe in his performances in the school.
ReplyDelete