The controversial former Rector of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Rev Fr. (Dr) Wence Madu who was, according to his employment record, born on 28th September,1955 and retired on 28 September , 2020 is still said to be receiving salary, months after retirement, according to records made available to Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper.
In a recent comprehensive list of staff of the polytechnic, the former Rector who has since his employment in the institution received salary through CMF, St Dominic .C.C Afara, was captured with ID No 000549/-229, serial No. 212. Available records, also show that he was paid monthly salary of N423,000 for October, November and December, 2020 respectively.
A source in the institution who pleaded anonymity, said,” if something is not done urgently, he will still be paid salary for January. This is more worrisome because most staff of the institution have been lamenting of underpayment and outright omission of their names from the payroll.”
When contacted, the Bursar of the institution, Linus Okafor, said he was not aware that the former Rector still receives salary. He however assured our reporter that he will confirm the report and get back to him.
To further confirm the veracity of the report, the Public Relations Officer of the Polytechnic, Darlington Oparaocha, who was contacted said, “the state government has a comprehensive list of staff of the polytechnic. The duty of the institution is to inform government of those who have retired and this we have done.” He declined response to more enquiries on the issue.
When also contacted, the Imo State Accountant General, Obieze, expressed surprise at the development which he claimed to be unaware of. “I will confirm if it is true that he has been receiving salary as claimed and get back to you”
It would be recalled that Rev Fr Wence Madu recently took a newspaper outfit (not Nigeria Watchdog) to court for reporting that he elongated and over stayed his tenure, having been appointed Rector in 2011, in line with Imo State Law No 12 of 2012, which stipulated a single 5 year tenure for a substantive Rector. When his tenure elapsed in 2017, rather than hand over or initiate the process of selecting his predecessor, the reverend father turned academic, remained in office until 2019 and continued to receive salary as the substantive Rector.
This pitched staff of the institution against themselves, as those who were due to take over from him, did not see the rationale for the controversial former Rector’s resolve to remain in office against all odds and contrary to the provisions of the rules and guide lines of the institution.
Effort to reach, the former Rector for comment proved abortive as he did not respond to phone calls or reply text message sent to him.
