Federal Polytechnic Oko has denied rumors that the institution was about to be relocated to Ezira town.
The polytechnic’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Obini Onuchukwu, said the protest was orchestrated to destroy the achievements of the administration led by Prof. Godwin Onu.
Onuchukwu wondered why some women could allow themselves to be used by certain interests bent on denting the rector’s image.
In a statement, Onuchukwu claimed that the protesting women allegedly blamed the rector for masterminding the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) strike.
The protesters also accused Onu of admitting a representative from another community, rather than the host community, as a member of the Governing Council, as well as engaging some widows from the community in the polytechnic without paying them for several months.
He said: “The rector does not have the powers to relocate an institution established by an Act without proper legislation. Therefore, there is no iota of truth in what they are saying and there is no plan whatsoever to relocate the institution to Ezira,” he said.
“On the ASUP strike and sending students to other institutions, we all know it is a nationwide issue, which has lingered for over five months and we don’t have any other institution apart from Oko, Ufuma and Atani campuses of the polytechnic and an affiliation with Covenant Polytechnic in Aba and no other institution”.
Onuchukwu continued: “The appointment of council members is not the responsibility of any rector or polytechnic, but that of the Federal ministry of Education and we are waiting for further directive. So, I wonder why we should be castigated for a responsibility that is not ours.”
