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Industrial harmony returns to Abia polytechnic as rector rejigs operations

By Gordi Udeajah, Aba
22 August 2019   |   4:15 am
The settlement of staff emoluments and re-positioning of strategic business units of the Abia Polytechnics, Aba have led to peaceful industrial harmony in the institution.

The settlement of staff emoluments and re-positioning of strategic business units of the Abia Polytechnics, Aba have led to peaceful industrial harmony in the institution.

The institution had witnessed unpaid salaries, staff truancy, abandonment of TETFund interventions.

The new Rector of the institution, Prof Ezionye Eboh told The Guardian that the state owned polytechnic was bedevilled by intractable problems before he assumed duty in February 2017.

A delegation of the African Students Union Parliament led by the Speaker, Kewul Sule told the Rector that their visit was to commend him for the various transformations his management has effected and to urge him not only to sustain them, but to tailor his activities towards youth development.

Rector said that on his assumption of office, there were revenue leakages due to manual collection process and control lapses, recurrent industrial actions that interrupted flow of academic activities, a court judgement debt of N119m coupled with high staff truancy.

He added: “There was un-remitted TETFund academic staff training sponsorships to the beneficiaries, strategic business units were shut down, there were over N300m gratuity debts and liabilities to contractors.

Seven and half months unpaid salaries and fifteen months pension arrears.

“Our staff strength has been reduced from 1,400 to 1, 252, the number of part-time lecturers to 60 from 100 and we paid arrears of honorarium to part-time lecturers up to 2017/2018 session in most departments.”

The Rector, who is a professor of Management Sciences, further said his management re-activated the dormant School management portal to drive credible admission screening, fee payment, e-receipt, course registration, clearance and online result functionalities, eliminated revenue leakages through the use of the activated portal which now make all fee collections to go through the portal and direct to the bank possible.

He also disclosed the restoration of TETFund suspended interventions, repayment of Bank N164million facility, restoration of industrial peace, biometric check-in system to check staff truancy, payment of salaries and pensions for 10 months in 2017 and 2018, remitting of union check-off dues up to 2018, reduction of monthly average wage and pension bills to N165m and N6.5m respectively.

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