Ikpeazu Under Fire as Abians Bemoan Abia Poly Loss of Accreditation

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo

Abia State Governor,  Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has come under fire as indigenes and residents yesterday reacted angrily to the loss of accreditation of Abia State Polytechnic (Abia Poly), Aba, saying that the governor “is running down the state and killing its institutions.”

The National Board for Technical Education had on Tuesday withdrawn the accreditation of Abia Poly, citing the inability of the institution to pay its staff who are overburdened with over 30 months arrears of salaries and allowances.

Announcing the withdrawal of accreditation for Abia Poly, a spokesperson for NBTE, Ms. Fatima Abubakar, said in a statement that the board acted, “with the utmost sense of responsibility,” in its decision “to withdraw the accreditation status of the polytechnic to safeguard the quality assurance mechanism of the board.” 

It was one closure too many for Abians as the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba, had already been shut down as it lost its accreditation by the Medical Council following the abandonment of the institution by doctors and other workers over the issue of non-payment of salaries.

A cross section of Umuahia residents who spoke with THISDAY condemned the Ikpeazu administration for not doing enough to save the affected educational and health institutions from going down.

A commercial tricycle(keke) operator, Mike Ugorji, who introduced himself as a university graduate, said it was appalling that a state governor with background in academics would turn out to be the one presiding over the demise of educational institutions.

“I really can’t believe what is happening, that a man who was a university teacher before he was made governor cannot save Abiapoly from collapse,” he said.

A civil servant, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she was disgusted after reading about, “the calamity that has  befallen our state”, adding that “there appears to be no end in sight for the unfolding ugly situations.”

She expressed disappointment that Ikpeazu, “has not shown enough seriousness in tackling the problems” in the state, citing, “his recent pleasure trips abroad when he should be attending to the serious business of saving our collapsing institutions.”

Ikpeazu recently raised eyebrows in the state after pictures of him and Governor Nyesom Wike vacationing in Turkey went viral. It was quickly followed by another one showing the Abia governor attending the graduation ceremony of the son of his Rivers counterpart in the United Kingdom.

“I weep for my state, our government don’t just care about making things better,” Mr. Hosea Nwuzor, a shop owner at Isigate city centre lamented, adding, “when other states are building new universities we are losing the ones we already have in our state.”

He stated that with what happened to Abia Poly and ABSUTH, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given the opposition enough firewood to roast it when electioneering for next year’s election begins in September.