Federal Poly Bida

Rector and students of the Federal Polytechnic‎, Bida have condemned the inhuman molestation of a lecturer by some members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in Bida saying it is barbaric  and uncalled for.

The attack on the lecturer was as a result of a fracas between the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), and the management of the Federal Polytechnic, over non payment of negotiated allowances.

The Rector, Abubakar Abdul Dzukogi while condemning the act at a press briefing  however said, there is a cordial relationship between members of staff and the management.

Similarly, the President, National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) Comrade Adeyeye Olugbenga called for a round table discussion between both parties, adding that the molestation on the lecture who is also a Special Assistant to‎ the Rector has nothing to do with the management.

According to Olugbenga “we strongly condemn the act and call for an urgent measure. The victim has the right to seek justice but we want both parties to sheath their sword because we want this issue to be resolved before resumption so that it will not affect our academic session”.

Refuting allegations of misappropriation of funds, the Rector said “management has motivated members of staff but everyone must work for his salary.‎ Anyone who makes allegation should be able to prove it.

“The claim can not be an allegation until it is proven. It could be regarded as noise because they have no proof. Just imagine, they accused me of changing a windscreen of Peugeot car with N1,000,000, how can that be true? The receipt is there, the windscreen and workmanship cost less than a hundred thousand.

“Even the car they are talking about was bought from PAN at the rate of N11,000,000. These people are trying to be mischievous. We have receipt for the purchase of the car and even the windscreen.”

He further stated that a committee has been set up to address the issue, saying “I am a man of integrity, I have held various positions before becoming the Rector. There was a time, some staff were paid mistakenly twice and we made them to refund the money even though some of them had started spending the money.”

‎The Rector who said the management has very cordial relationship with ASUP stated that for proper verification exercise, the management has ordered the submission of original certificates by staff to the board constituted for proper scrutiny because most of them are unqualified.

Earlier, the Chairman ASUP, Bida Chapter, Comrade Umar Saganuwan in a press ‎briefing however said the contending issues are connected to unlawful arbitrary suspension of some negotiated allowances which the Union demanded their immediate reinstatement and restoration.

“Our stance incidentally led to reprisals‎ of ignoble antics by management to undermine the unity of members and discredit the leadership of the Union; some of which involved the sponsorship of a faceless group called ‘integrity group’,” he said