ABIA State Polytechnic Aba, has hosted delegates of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) for its 89th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
Though the attendees discussed the affairs of the union, the occasion was also an opportunity for the national body to call on the state government to clear the salary arrears owed their members in the state polytechnic.
The Nation learnt that majority of the workers were yet to receive salaries in the past seven months, a situation many of the workers said has made life excruciatingly difficult for them.
The National Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics in Nigeria, Comrade Usman Yusuf Dutse, in a speech, called on Abia State government and management of the Abia State Polytechnic to pay workers of the polytechnic their arrears of salaries.
Dutse who was on the visit with other members of Council of National Officers of ASUP, noted that staff of the institution could be more productive if they were paid promptly.
He said that the choice of Abia Poly as the venue for the NEC meeting was deliberate and timely as they wanted to use the opportunity to show solidarity with the institution chapter who were being owed for about nine months arrears of salaries.
He stressed that regular payment of workers’ salaries motivates them to work hard.
ASUP national chairman, who said that he was visiting the school 10 after his initial visit, noted that the school was ripe for expansion and called for the release of 2014 promotion lists of staff which he said was long overdue.
He used the opportunity to laud the cordial relationship existing between the management and staff of the school and called for the confirmation of members of the management who have been on acting capacity since February they were appointed by the state governor.
Responding, the acting rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Prof. Eboh assured that efforts were on by the management of the instruction and the state government to ensure that staff members of the polytechnic were paid their arrears of salaries.
Abia Poly rector who described the polytechnic as one of the best in the country said that the management on assumption of office in February 2017 met backlog of salary arrears from July 2016 till January this year which they were gradually paying off, adding that as part of the commitment of the management to offset the huge backlog, stated that between the month of April and June, they (management) were able to pay their workers five months arrears of salaries.
According him, the institution have been able to receive from the state government N680m subvention since he assumed office, but regretted that the effect of the present economic crunch being faced by the country became a setback to the inflow of funds to the polytechnic.
The rector who thanked the staff of the institution especially the leadership of the ASUP AbiaPoly chapter for showing understanding with the management promised that the 2014 promotion lists of staff would soon be out, stating that the management has been running transparent and open door policy since they assumed leadership.
He also disclosed that work had already commenced at the permanent site of the campus located off Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway where more facilities including student hostels and among educational and recreational facilities would be introduced for a better academic growth of the students.
He added that to save the institution from wastages, the management had plugged some of the identified areas through which individuals siphon the institution’s funds in the past, adding that internal mechanism have been put in place to ensure that anyone that engages in fraudulent would be fished out.
