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Workers in Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu (FEDCODTTEN), have called on President Bola Tinubu to institute an investigative panel into allegations of financial misappropriation, nepotism levelled against the Rector, Dr John Emaimo and some principal officers of the Institution.
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The angry staff also urged the President to, as a matter of emergency appoint and inaugurate a Management Board for the College to stop further fraudulent implementations of Personnel and Overhead Costs, Capital projects and save them from perpetual manipulations.
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Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a member of staff of the institution said the management must streamline the salary structure of all staff to reflect the salary structure of health workers both for academics and administrative staff since the college is a division under the Federal Ministry of Health.
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He said: “We, staff of Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy Enugu cry out for help and beg the Presidency, Minister of Health, National Assembly, especially the distinguished Senators and Hon.Members representing good people of Enugu State at the National Assembly, relevant agencies and organizations and other stakeholders to properly Investigate the Illegalities, financial Mismanagement, corruption, nepotism of the administration of the Rector (‘Prof.”John Emaimo) and Bursar (Mrs Egbeh Felicia) at the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu. “
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Parts of the allegations levelled against the Rector and some of his principal staff includes:
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“Improper Placement of Staff, Diversion of funds, Nepotism, fraudulent implementations of Personnel Costs and Over head Costs and other frauds deepens from 2017 to date.
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“You may recall as it’s on record that in November 2020, the Rector, Dr.John Emaimo, recruited some new academic staff (on CONUASS) and non-academic staff into different positions and departments/units of the college in preparation for the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) verification exercise for some degree programmes being introduced into the college that year.
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“The placement of the staff to various ranks was characterized by nepotism and irregularities.
“The Rector, Dr.John Emaimo, jettisoned the NUC benchmark guidelines for the appointment and promotion of academic staff in Nigerian Universities, as well as the college’scguidelines for the appointment and promotion of staff (dated September 2020), and placed his candidates, especially ones from his state of origin to a rank higher than their counterparts (staff of the college) from other parts of the country with similar qualifications.
“As if that was not enough, he connived with the Bursar to place his “special” candidates on a salary grade higher than their counterparts in the same cadre.
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“For instance, some candidates who hold PhD are placed as Assistant Lecturer (CONUASS2), some as Lecturer II (CONUASS3) and some as Lecturer I (CONUASS4), while some of his candidates with MSc.,and BSc.with MSc-in-view are placed as Lecturer II (CONUASS4) instead of Assistant Lecturer (CONUASS2) and graduate assistant respectively.
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“Also, some of his candidates on CONUASS35 receive salaries of those on CONUASS45.The worst of it all is that a staff who is a bosom friend and former colleague of the Rector (a retiree) in the Nigerian Navy, who holds HND-equivalent in Dental Technology and MSc.in Education Foundation and Planning, was given the rank of a Chief Lecturer (equivalent to a university Professor) in the Department of Dental Technology and the position of Acting Dean of Faculty of Dental health, while there are staff in the same faculty with PhD.
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“Non-payment of promotion arrears and regular and irregular allowances is becoming a norm in the college. Promotion exercises take place every year in the college, but the implementation takes up to 2 or 3years.
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“Contrary to the tenets of civil service rules, the Rector stated clearly in the promotion letter that the promotion is without arrears of salaries. Regular allowances such as call duties and non-clinical allowances that amounted to over 300million naira is budgeted for as personnel cost every year, but neither academic nor non-academic have received such allowances since the inception of his administration in 2017.”
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It was further gathered that Dr Emaimo who budgeted over ₦2.9b in the 2022 appropriation amendments as approved and has proposed over ₦3b for the 2023 appropriation budget has over ₦240m captured in each budget year for *Regular and Non-Regular Allowances *for about 482I PPIS enrolled staff in the entire college.
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Further checks revealed that the “Executive class” for Degree programmes affiliated with Federal University of Technology (FUTO), pay ₦170,000 and above and has enrolled students in 100 to 500 levels.
In all these bogus budgets and IGR, 99% of staff have been sidelined from accessing earned entitlements/allowances since 2017 till date.
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It was gathered that uprising by aggrieved staff began when other sister tertiary health Institutions started getting paid of their backlogs of allowances last October 2022,, which created panic in the college.
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it was also learnt that the Act of Parliament establishing the College, that despite the new Act of 2017, the Institution still operates as a division of the Federal Ministry of Health.
The budget, supervision, approval of appointments and promotions still come through the Ministry of Health, the most recent evidence is the reappointment of the College Bursar, Mrs Egbe Felicia by the Minister of State for Health for a second term.
In a protest letter the aggrieved workers called on the National Assembly House of Reps/Senate Committees on Ethics, Budget/Personnel Overhead, Budget Office, Auditor General, Accountant General, Press, EFCC, ICPC, FMH, OHSF, FMF, NISWC and Nigeria taxpayers (citizens) to further investigate and make public how items on disbursed monies in Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy Enugu from 2017 to date of this publication appropriation amendments on Regular and Non Regular Allowances were spent by Dr Emaimo and his Management team.
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“Dr. John Emaimo and Mrs.Felicia Egbe, Bursar and their foot-soldiers Mrs.Angela Chukwu, Principal Assistant Registrar and Shamsudeen Mohammed, Senior Data Processing Officer, should explain who is not and who is qualified to benefit from the budgeted and partly disbursed allowances both (Regular and Non Regular) as captured in the 2022 Appropriation Amendment, with Code 0521016001 page 1487)
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“The total appropriation is to the tune of ₦2,930,653,047billion while allowances for staff with Code 210201,21020101&21020111 are to the tune of ₦90,662,572and ₦8,515,152 respectively.
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Ironically, one may wonder how all these alleged maltreatment and maladministration could survive in a federal government establishment without petition, formal complaints or strike action by the existing unions in the college.
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“If there are no clear and verifiable answers to these questions, EFCC&ICPC and other anti-graft agencies should swift into action to help the helpless and starving staff of the college”, an aggrieved staff concluded.
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REACTION OF RECTOR TO THE ALLEGATIONS:
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Contacted, the embattled Rector, Dr Emaimo who spoke through the Public Relations Officer of the College, Philip Omololu, said, “We are aware of the allegations. Some have been summoned by the DSS to come with evidence and prove their allegations.”
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Omololu who is also said to be a beneficiary of the alleged Rector’s ‘back-door’ recruitment exercise, told this reporter that the matter of corruption, nepotism and others are already before the Department of State Security (DSS) who are currently investigation it.
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He insisted that all the allegations are baseless, false and not true.
*Blackmailers’ Are at It Again
Our attention has been drawn to misleading publications online by Corenews and Daily news, alleging fraud, nepotism, job racketeering, diversion of resources and manipulation of funds and data against the Rector, Prof. John Emaimo and Bursar, Mrs. Felicia Egbeh and some other members of staff.
It is apt to state that these spurious and malicious allegations are not new.
They have been recycled over and over to the extent that they have become monotonous. We would have thought that those behind these allegations would change their failed strategy, but because they have run out fabrications’ initiative, they keep moving in a vicious cycle. So, we are never bothered by their antics because as it is often said, only the guilty are afraid.
In July, when these allegations were last made, the Rector held several meetings with deans of faculties, directors, heads of departments and units where he laid all issues bare and at the end of the meetings, he was given a clean bill. There was nobody who could point accusing fingers at him. It is therefore ridiculous that certain individuals who could not stand up at the time to substantiate their allegations have returned to their familiar trend of character assassination again.
In his determination to prove his innocence, the Rector went beyond laying issues bare before workers in the College as he approached an appropriate security agency where he tabled the allegations, stated his own side of the story and appealed to the security agency to swiftly launch investigation into the matter. Indeed, these allegations are still currently being investigated and we are waiting for their findings. It is our belief that when the security agency concludes its investigation, it will smoke out those feeding the public with falsehood and promptly bring them to book.
We therefore implore members of the general public to discountenance these allegations as mere views of individuals who are only traumatised by their inability to cope with change. We invite any interested party to visit the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu and see a big difference when compared with the state of the school at the time Prof. Emaimo took over as the Rector.
Although we had no intention of dignifying those behind this smear campaign with any response but for the sake of those who may be misled by their campaign of calumny, we just want to state in clear terms that:
1.There was never anything like nepotism and job racketeering. It is only the figment of imagination of those behind it. Recruitment done in 2020 followed due process as applicants applied from different parts of the country and employment was done on merit.
2. We are not aware that IPPIS can be manipulated.
3.Promotion arrears are paid are paid as at when approved due since the College doesn’t run on personnel vote.
4. All federal civil servants’ allowances are personal administered by IPPIS as appropriate and applicable.
5. The College is yearly audited through periodic checks by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Federal Ministry of Finance and Budget Office of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Health and other related agencies and evidences of due transactions are verifiable there.
6. The good members of the public and college community are advised to continue to repose their confidence in the College.
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Omololu Philip Ogunmade
Public Relations Officer
