Member representing Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Federal Constituency, Hon. (Dr.) Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, has chaired the investigative session of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education.
The robust committee meeting, which took place at the House of Representatives Complex on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, had in attendance provosts and members of management staff of various federal government-owned polytechnics in the southeastern part of Nigeria.
In his remarks, Hon. Adepoju said that the committee was committed to the growth and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, charging the leadership of various educational institutions to be open to the committee to resolve whatever challenges they might be facing in their academic environment.
“As a committee, we want to reiterate that we are a body saddled with the responsibility of providing solutions to various contingencies you might be facing. We are simply here because of you and the people of Nigeria. As we continue to use the instrumentality of our committee in different capacities to achieve the project Nigeria, we seek the compliance of all and sundry in a bid to collectively move Nigeria to greater heights,” he remarked.
Quizzing the management of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, Hon. Adepoju frowned at the nominal roll of the institution, which failed to comply with the principle of Federal Character. The nominal roll as read out by the management of the institution left other geopolitical zones with little or no member of staff, an act which Hon. Adepoju described as a violation of Section 14, Subsection 3, of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Contributing to the debate, Hon. (Dr.) Kalejaiye Paul Adeboye, PhD, member representing Ajeromi/Ifelodun Federal Constituency, moved a motion to stop the management of the institution to employ under a waiver in its next recruitment process, the motion which was subsequently seconded by another committee member.
The committee, however, unanimously agreed that the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, must advertise their next recruitment opportunity without any right to apply for a waiver. The committee also mandated that the job advertisement must appear in the national dailies three months before the recruitment exercise commences. It also charged the management of the institution to comply with the federal character principles in ensuring that the 300 members of staff to be employed spread across all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
