Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has suspended the governing body of the Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, IMAP, Lafia, and also ordered the Rector, Dr Justina Anjide-Kotso, to take compulsory leave, effective immediately.
The directive was issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Muhammad Ubandoma-Aliyu, on Friday, citing the need for an unhindered investigation into the report of the visitation panel by the white paper committee.
The visitation panel, chaired by Engineer Ali Rabiu, submitted its report to Governor Sule on February 2nd, prompting this action.
According to Ubandoma, the Governor’s decision aims to ensure a thorough investigation without any interference from the current leadership.
This move comes as a surprise, considering Governor Sule’s previous praise for Dr Justina Anjide-Kotso’s efforts in repositioning IMAP prior to the setting up of the visitation panel.
The Governor had previously commended her for her achievements, claiming her tenure had transformed the institution from one lacking in technical accreditation to a beacon of academic excellence.
“Initially, we had a polytechnic without any technical accreditation. Today, we have four technical courses that have accreditation. You can truly say that now we are a polytechnic. It happens during her period.
“With all the efforts that she puts in and the efforts of her own management and the efforts of everybody who supported to make it happen.
“With due respect, when we came in, even the IMAP Lafia that we are calling, was not really a polytechnic.
”It was not. It has never been. Because they never had one technical accreditation. All the courses they were offering, none were technical,” the Governor had lamented.
Mrs Anjide-Kotso had also sanitized and blocked leakages in the system especially with the introduction of the registration portal to safeguard the “integrity and security of the institution”
Her introduction of a registration portal and efforts to block leakages within the system garnered praise from the Students Union Government (SUG), which hailed IMAP as a model of academic excellence.
In a statement, the SUG President, Ayaka Peter Ekom, expressed optimism over the Institution’s future despite the recent developments.
He said the continued support of the student body and their commitment to pursuing initiatives that benefit IMAP.
