- Workers at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, have called on Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to wade into the issue of non-payment of their salaries for over six months by the management of the institution.
Workers at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, have called on Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to wade into the issue of non-payment of their salaries for over six months by the management of the institution.
The workers alleged that the management had been unable to pay their outstanding salaries due to what they described as administrative recklessness on its part.
One of the workers told our correspondent, on the condition of anonymity, that despite owing salary arrears for some months, the management of the institution was secretly recruiting more staff through the back door.
Describing the management as insensitive to the plight of its staff, he said, “The governor really needs to set up a panel to look into what is going on in this institution. We are being owed salaries for six months, yet the management is secretly recruiting workers. Where will they get the money to pay the new staff? It is a serious matter and the government should do something, we are suffering.”
Another worker lamented that the authorities had set the institution back by five years to the period between 2015 and 2016 when the polytechnic was no longer able to pay salary of its workers.
“During that period, fractional payment of salaries was the order of the day. It is very unfortunate that we are about to return to that period,” he said.
However , in his reaction, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr Samuel Ojo, who confirmed the development, said the matter would be looked into.
He said, “The workers’ claim is no longer news. The Ondo State Government is not saying that it is not owing salaries, but people should not forget that the Akeredolu administration has done so much for this school. The government is aware of our financial predicament and it will do something about it soon.”
