THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has called on the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, to look inward in appointing a new rector for the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori.The appeal came as the union, said it would not accept the appointment of a rector from outside the institution.
Speaking with newsmen in the Khana Local Government Area, the Chairman of ASUP, Rivpoly Chapter, Mr. Barineka Gberegbe, explained that the union would not be able to operate under a rector who may be unfamiliar with the polytechnic.
Gberegbe, who asked the governor to follow due process, urged him to put in place a statutory process of selecting a rector for the school as stipulated in section 31(3) of the State Polytechnic Law of 1999 as amended.
“Recent information concerning the activities of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori in the media, necessitates our call for this press conference to demonstrate that we want to suggest the possible areas of improvement.
“With this press conference, we will be able to give clarity on many issues on which we have received several calls. Just as all politicians like to rise to the highest political office in the land, academic staff in the polytechnic sector desire to rise to become rector.
“We don’t have any space for strangers and learners but experienced polytechnic members of staff that understand the intrigues of the polytechnic system,” Gberegbe said.
He explained that while the tenure of the current rector, Obianko Wolu-Elechi, would end next year, it was imperative to remind the government of the needful.
“We assure the governor that we have many capable hands that can manage the affairs of our institution. There is nobody that can understand our problems better than somebody from within. In fact, the issue of an internal rector is sacrosanct to all the unions on campus, he added.
The ASUP boss, however, commended the governor for clearing the backlog of salaries owed the workers in the state between April and June, 2015.
Gberegbe added, “The wind of payment of salary arrears has blown through the length and breadth of many states in Nigeria. Workers in the state will not forget easily the pains of the accumulated salaries.
“As a union, we sincerely appreciate the governor for clearing the backlog of salaries.”
He described as a welcome development the renaming of the polytechnic as Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic.
“We are aware that the past administration released over N3bn for infrastructural development. Such magnanimity was not extended to Rivpoly, Bori. A budgetary allocation of between N90m and N150m was appropriated, but has largely remained on papers.”
