Following Monday ‘s protest embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), on Monday, management of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), Ondo State, on Tuesday has shutdown the tertiary institution.
In a press statement released by the Acting Registrar of the polytechnic, Mr Sule Atiku, said that management took the decision to avert any likely crises that might arise
According to the statement by the Registrar: “I have the mandate of the management to announce to the public that Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, is hereby closed down until further notice.
“In view of this development, all students of the institution are hereby advised to vacate the institution not later than 3:00 p.m., today, Tuesday, June18, 2019.
“This closure has become imperative in order for council and management to forestall any breakdown of law and order within the institution’s environment, “Atiku stated.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ASUP in the institution, Mr Oluwadare Ijawoye,noted that the policies and decisions of the Acting Rector of the polytechnic, Mr Gani Ogundahunsi, were hostile and against the welfare of ASUP members in the school.
Ijawoye told newsmen that the association was only expressing its grievances toward opposition, injustice and ill treatment from the school management.
He said that the management withheld almost N500 million out of N1.7 billion released by Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to offset nine months’ salary arrears and emoluments of the institution’s staff.
According to him, courses in RUGIPO are on the verge of de-accreditation by the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE).
He also stated the non-payment of staff salaries and emoluments as well as no promotion of staff for a long time as some of their grievances.
The ASUP’s chairman, who said that it was disheartening that his members had not been promoted for three years, attributed the faults to Ogundahunsi-led management’s policies.
He also accused the management of non-remittance of six-month salaries deduction, amounting to N630 million, to various cooperative societies in the school.
