By Ayodele Oni
Governing Council of Ondo State owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, (RUGIPO) has said intervention by the state government is the only solution to offset backlog of salaries owed the staff.
The workers had, last week, locked the Polytechnic’s gate to protest non payment of their salaries to close ten months.
Chairman of the institution’s Governing Council, Dr Olubunmi Omoniyi, revealed at the weekend that the council is lobbying the Ondo State Government on how the 10 months salaries owed the workers can be offset.
Omoniyi also confirmed that processes of appointing a substantive Rector and other principal officers for the school have been suspended temporarily.
The Council’s Chairman, who spoke in Akure, advised trade unions at the polytechnic to join hands with the Governing Council to effect genuine reforms that would enable the institution generate revenues to complement monthly subvention to meet various financial obligations including salary payment.
Omoniyi, explained that the suspension of the process was temporary to enable the school’s council and the state government to address various issues confronting the institution especially accumulated salaries arrears.
She blamed the unrest by the workers on unpaid salaries owed by the previous administration since 2014 and move to transform the school to a university.
“The 12 councils came on board in August 2022 with our Chairman Barr. Banji Alabi. After the visitation panels to the institution, the results were submitted to His Excellency, Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
“After our inauguration on March 7th 2023, the government chose me to lead the council. We reconvened in September 2023.
“By the time we reconvened in September 2023, we had 13 months arrears unpaid to the staff in RUGIPO.
“With our goodwill, meeting people here and there in government, three months were paid to them at once and that was why the 13 months was reduced to 10.
“When we came on board, we discovered that all the principal officers on the ground, their tenure will expire October 9 2023.
“We swung into action and we put an advert which lasted for six weeks and during the process of our advertisement, we appointed acting principal officers.
“The State Government has intervened and they asked us to put the interview on hold and we have done that. I think the matter should be put to rest for a while.
“I think if they want to go on rampage, they should inform me and dialogue to see what we can do about it if they have not been masterminded by some people who do not want the interview of appointing new principal officers to be held, so that we would not have substantive principal officers.”
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