The Abia State Government on Monday released an additional N200,000,000 as further subventions to Abia State Polytechnic (Abiapoly) Aba.

The state Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Umuahia.

He said: “So far, the institution has received a total of four hundred and seventy million (N470,000,000.00) from the state government, in the past four months.

The amount includes one hundred and eighty million Naira (N180,000,000.00) which was paid from the third tranche of Paris Club Refund but stuck in the accounts of the Polytechnic as a result of a court garnishee obtained by a Contractor whose wife works as Registrar of the institution, and another Ninety Million Naira (N90m) paid to the school shortly before they embarked on the current industrial action.

“The monthly subvention expected to be paid to the school by the state government is Ninety Million Naira (N90,000,000). It is also important to note that early in the life of this administration the government paid off two billion Naira (N2,000,000,000.00) bad loan taken by the institution. This notwithstanding, the government has continued to pay some monthly subventions to the school.

“Our independent review of the operating cash flow of the institution indicates a critical need to restructure and ensure that the school operates within its means, through shedding the sundry excess loads that made it impossible for it to run seamlessly, like Abia State University.

“We, therefore, wish to encourage the management of Abiapoly to ensure an early return to work by all the staff of Abiapoly as well as take necessary measures to restructure the institution to improve operational efficiency.”

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