Some senior staff members of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede in Owerri, Imo State have filed a petition with the Federal Government regarding the recruitment process for a new rector for the institution.
The petition, addressed to the Federal Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman and signed by six staff members, was made available to the press in Owerri on Sunday.
The six staff members are: Dr. Uzoma Ibeja, Dr. Christopher Onyiemenonu, Dr. Lilian Esiagu, Dr. Catherine Nwachukwu, Dr. Okafo Okereaffia, and Dr. Chinwe Okpoechi.
They stated that they, along with one other person, were shortlisted for an interview scheduled for Aug. 6, 2034.
However, they were instead compelled to take an examination, which they believe contradicts the provisions of the Polytechnics Act 2019 (As Amended).
The petitioners also expressed concerns about the qualification of the resource person responsible for overseeing the exercise. They insisted that the results from a process overseen by this individual should not be considered valid.
Furthermore, they mentioned that four out of the seven members of the selection board had suggested halting the exercise due to observed irregularities until all issues raised by the protesting candidates were addressed.
They emphasized that there was no collation of candidates’ results, and no reports on the exercise were written, signed, adopted, and submitted to the Governing Council.
As a result, they distanced themselves from any purported results of candidates for the position submitted to the Federal Ministry of Education by the Chairman of the governing council, Hon. Henry Ikoh.
They described such results as “contrivances of some persons who unlawfully desire to foist a rector on the institution “.
The petitioners called for detailed investigations into the exercise to determine its compliance or not with extant laws, bias and transparency.
They said: “We call on the Honorable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, to reject any results purportedly emanating from this flawed process in line with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to due process as expressed in his visit to our institution one year ago”.
The four contestants also called for the conduct of a fresh interview in line with extant laws to ensure that the process leading to the emergence of a substantive rector is beyond reproach.
