By Adeleye Kunle
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has revoked the accreditation of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, for failing to pay staff salaries and allowances for more than 30 months.
Hajiya Fatima Abubakar, NBTE Head, Media Department, stated this in a statement issued in Kaduna on Tuesday.
According to Abubakar, the accreditation was withdrawn because the polytechnic had not demonstrated any commitment to offset the arrears and ensure regular salary payment.
She explained that one of the board’s normative instruments for quality assurance in Polytechnics, Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions was regular salary payment.
She also stated that the board had alerted the polytechnic’s management to the dangers of unpaid salaries, including the suspension of quality assurance visits.
Abubakar also claimed that the polytechnic’s governing council and management broke several promises to settle the backlog of salary arrears.
“The board went above and beyond by informing Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the polytechnic’s dire situation, but all to no avail.”
“It is therefore with the utmost sense of responsibility that the board has decided to withdraw the polytechnic’s accreditation status in order to safeguard the board’s quality assurance mechanism.”
“It is also to ensure that students are not at the mercy of demotivated staff who may resort to underhanded tactics to survive,” she explained.
Abubakar stated that the board had written to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) requesting that no graduates of the polytechnic be mobilized for national service until the institution addressed the issue.
According to the statement, the NBTE would notify the NYSC once the accreditation status was restored.
She also stated that the board sent similar notices of accreditation withdrawal to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) in order to halt any official transactions with the polytechnic.
“Polytechnic proprietors throughout the country are also advised to take regular payment of staff salaries seriously, as failure to do so may result in loss of accreditation,” Abubakar said.
