• Adopoly council suspends registrar, bursar for 3 months, begins probe
Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
Details have emerged why the Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti slammed three months suspension on the Registrar, Mrs. Sade Adediran and Bursar, Mr. Elijah Onaolapo.
The 41-year-old federal institution is in the eye of a major storm.
Investigations revealed that the institution, which is one of the top ranked polytechnics in the country, is in the news over alleged mismanagement against the two principal officers.
Following the alleged misdemeanour, the two principal officers were suspended to allow the authority unhindered access to probe the allegations against them.
The two top management staff, Adediran and Onaolapo were directed to step aside for a period of three months consequent upon an ongoing restructuring in the institution.
Deputy Registrar (Information), Mr. Adeyemi Adejolu, in a statement announcing the suspension, had said: “This was the decision taken by the Governing Council of the institution during its 99th statutory meeting held on Thursday, February 15, 2018, while considering the recommendations of the report of one of its ad-hoc committees constituted on December 7, 2017, to probe into the operations of management in the recent past.
“The Governing Council, after exhaustive deliberations, resolved and directed the Registrar, Mrs. S. O. Adediran and the Bursar, Mr. E. A. Onaolapo to immediately step aside for three months subject to a review of the decision at the next meeting of the governing council slated for May, 2018.
“In a related development, the council has also appointed an acting Registrar, Mr. Olusola Awoniyi, who, until the acting appointment, was the deputy registrar in charge of junior staff matters. While Mr. Oluwole Aboluje, a Chief Accountant in the Bursary was also appointed as acting bursar in the interim.
“Meanwhile, the governing council has also constituted a new fact finding panel to investigate some alleged infractions perpetrated by the institution’s management between 2015 and 2017.The investigation committee is to submit it’s findings/ahead of the next statutory meeting of council, scheduled for May, 2018.”
But The Education Report gathered that the investigation committee has begun to unearth some mindboggling scams allegedly perpetrated by the officers along with others, during the tenure of the former Rector, Dr. Taiwo Akande.
Contrary to the figures recently quoted by the media, which was N98 million, findings revealed that the actual money that was received from the Federal Government as workers’ promotion arrears was N198 million. The suspended officers along with the former rector, Dr. Akande, allegedly put aside N100 million and declared N98 million.
Another reason for the suspension was the alleged recruitment scam. It was gathered that the federal government had asked the institution to recruitment 250 but they ended up recruiting 750 new staff.
Piqued by the development, the polytechnic governing council immediately ordered the principal officers to proceed on three months’ suspension so that the committee probing the allegation can do the job without any intimidation, fear or favour.
A union leader in the institution, who didn’t want his name in print for fear of victimization, disclosed to The Education Report that there are some other mind boggling scams allegedly perpetrated during the tenure of the immediate past rector.
The union leader listed the scams to include a debt of N480 million left for the polytechnic as well as unremitted N120 million belonging to the cooperative society and a certain N1.2 billion that was accrued to the institution’s satellite campus on NTA Road, Ado Ekiti but which utilisation has remained a mystery for the probing committee.
But Dr. Akande denied knowledge of any ongoing probe of her tenure as rector of the institution and any misappropriation of funds.
She also said she was not aware of any promotion arrears, arguing that issues of arrears of promotion fell within the purview of the budget office.
“I am not aware of that but I know that was the period when I was having problems with the unions.
“Nobody has contacted me about any probe and I don’t know anything about promotion arrears because that is the duty of the budget office. Promotion arrears were not paid throughout my tenure. We have made presentation to the budget office and that is all I can say about it for now. Let them contact me so that I can talk better,” she said
While efforts to get the bursar and registrar did not yield positive results, the image maker of the institution, Mr. Adeyemi, said the probe committee has not unearthed any misconduct that border on financial misappropriation against the suspended principal officials and the former rector, apart from the issue of irregular recruitment of staff.