Rivers Poly workers beg Gov Wike to reverse massive sacking

THE four hundred thirty-five employees of the Rivers
State Polytechnic, Bori, sacked by the state government
have urged well meaning people of the state to prevail
on the government to reverse the decision and recall
them to work.
The State Government had on Monday announced the
cancellation of the polytechnic workers appointment.
Those affected are academic and non-academic staff,
who were recently employed by the Rotimi Amaechi
administration.
Speaking on behalf of their colleagues, Jekey Lekue,
Grace Ikue and Basil Ujobolo urged the State Governor,
Chief Nyesom Wike, not to renege on his promise
during his inauguration to give hope to the people.
Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday,
some of the disengaged workers lamented that they
had been searching for job for the past five years before
they were eventually employed at the state polytechnic.
They also stated that some of them had to resign from
their former place of work after they received their
appointment letters from the authorities of the State
Polytechnic, Bori, Khana Local Government Area.
Explaining that they went through a painstaking
process before they were employed, the sacked workers
recalled that they had supervised the last examination
in the school before the announcement that their
employment had been cancelled.
“We are calling on well meaning Rivers people to do
justice to this issue. We beg Rivers people to step in.
Governor Nyesom Wike gave the state hope on May 29,
2015. We have already been captured in the data base
of the state. Our governor should not do this to
us,” they further appealed.
In another development, the State Governor, Chief
Nyesom Wike, has disbanded the Rivers State Road
Traffic Management Agency known as TIMARiV.
Reacting to the sacking of the 435 RIVPOLY workers,
the Special Adviser on Media to the State Governor, Sir
Opunabo Inko-Tariah, stated their appointment was
marred by irregularities.
Inko-Tariah said, “The appointment of the staff were
marred with irregularities. Such an appointment had to
be terminated to look into the whole issue holistically.
“The sacking was premised on irregularities. So many
procedural obligations were breached and as a result,
the exercise was deprived of due process.”
Speaking on the Rector of the polytechnic, Dr Obiando
Elechi Amadi, who was sent on a compulsory leave,
Inko-Tariah pointed out that it was as a result of a
case of official misconduct on the rector’s part.
On the disbandment of the state traffic management
agency, the governor’s aide specifically said that some
of the officials of TIMARIV were making illegal seizure
of vehicles in order to extort money from innocent
citizens.
According to him, “Many of those guys were making
illegal and embarrassing seizure of vehicles on the
roads and this is becoming an eyesore. Let us leave
politics aside; it is a known fact all over the state that
TIMARIV had constituted itself into a public nuisance.
“The action of its staff had, in most cases, brought
River State into disrepute. What they do in most cases
is illegal. They are not supposed to struggle for the
steering with the driver of a vehicle, but this is what
they often do.
“The state government can no longer cope with the
excesses of this TIMARIV staff. It was on that premises
that the governor decided that it should be disbanded.
“Governor Nyesom Wike also instructed that all seized
vehicles should be released with immediate effect. He
further instructed that nobody should pay a kobo to
TIMARIV.
“If anybody should be refused or deprived of the
retrieval of his/her vehicle, such a person should report
to the nearest police station and the TIMARIV staff in
question will be dealt with,” Inko-Tariah added.