The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) at Federal Polytechnic Offa has raised serious concerns over what it describes as an "accreditation fraud" involving over N500 million allocated for the accreditation of 21 departments in the institution.

According to a statement released on Monday by ASUP Chairman Dr. Idowu Atilola, a memo from the Director of Academic Planning, Dr. Waheed Oyelola Balogun, to the Rector requested N507,945,395 for the accreditation exercise, an amount the union considers outrageously inflated.

"The union's insistence on being included in accreditation exercises is further justified by some of the unbelievable propositions as conspicuously spelt out in this memo," Dr. Atilola stated, highlighting several concerning allocations in the budget.

The union pointed out that the previous accreditation of 33 departments under Dr. Kamoru Kadiri in 2023/2024 reportedly cost about N50 million, raising questions about the massive increase for fewer departments this time.

In the breakdown of the proposed budget, Heads of Departments who will be directly involved in the accreditation process were allocated only N100,000 each, while deans were allocated N200,000 each. In total, deans and HODs would receive just N7.2 million of the over N500 million budget.

More concerning to the union is the allocation of N50 million to the Management and N20 million to the Governing Council, amounts ASUP described as "unreasonably outrageous."

"The memos are unequivocal conspiracies by the Rector (Kamoru Kadiri) and Director of Academic Planning (Waheed Balogun) to siphon money from the polytechnic coffers, which consequently would be reasons for the continued degeneration of our institution when public funds are being carted away with such unequalled impunity," the union alleged.

In a separate development, ASUP also criticized an attempt by the rector to secure approval for entitlement packages for outgoing principal officers, despite clear directives from the Ministry of Education and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) prohibiting such packages.

The union referenced a circular from the Ministry of Education dated December 31, 2024, and a subsequent NBTE circular dated January 15, 2025, which explicitly removed such entitlement packages from the purview of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

"This request by the rector, despite an unambiguous decision on it by both the supervising ministry and regulatory authority (FME and NBTE), puts to question the kind of management that is currently championing the affairs of our polytechnic," ASUP stated.

The union has vowed to prioritize genuine staff welfare and institutional advancement "by all means necessary" while advising the governing council not to be "lured into becoming an accessory to illegality."

These allegations come amid an already frosty relationship between the academic union and the institution's management, further escalating tensions within the polytechnic community.

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