The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, has dismissed allegations of witchhunting some directors of the board.
Bugaji also said he was not aware of any investigations of the NBTE by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The NBTE boss was reacting to allegations by sources within the board that he was under investigation by the ICPC for corruption.
The source alleged that several officials of the board, including Bugaje had been interrogated by the ICPC.
Bugaje was also alleged to have redeployed some directors perceived to be whistle blowers following the ICPC investigations.
He was further accused of creating a body known as “NBTE EXCO”, which according to the source, is alien to governance structure in Nigerian public service”.
It was alleged that of membership of the Exco is limited to only directors and non-directors loyal to the executive secretary.
According to the source, six directors and three deputy directors of the board were either redeployed to other departments or posted out of the NBTE headquarters in Kaduna, in an exercise perceived to be punitive.
However, reacting to the allegations in a telephone interview, Bugaje said he was not aware of investigations by the ICPC.
He said the NBTE and the ICPC are partners in progress and has been working closely together to check the extortion of students in some polytechnics.
He said the NBTE’s relationship with the ICPC let to the establishment of the Anti Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the board.
“I wouldn’t know, maybe they have written petitions because NBTE is a place where they manufacture lots of petitions all the time.
“We work closely with ICPC in enforcing standards, any polytechnic that is short changing Nigerian students is sanctioned”, he said.
On the redeployment of directors perceived to be whistleblowers, the NBTE boss explained that since he came on board almost three and a half years ago, he had been moving directors from one department to the another to ensure performance.
He said, “If I see a director performing very poorly, I have no option than to move him to another department especially if the department is critical to the success of the NBTE.
“For instance the former Director of Audit was moved to head the Directorate of Inspectorate which is an investigation department of the NBTE.
“I moved him there because he was the chairman of ACTU at that time. But since he went there for six months, no polytechnic that was breaking the rules was investigated.
“They will only travel, come back and tell me stories. No action was taken against a single polytechnic that was involved in illegal admissions or programmes. So I felt this man was wasting time.
“So I moved him to special projects and I replaced him with somebody who could move the inspectorate department forward.
“Within two weeks, the new man had written those polytechnics doing illegal admissions and establishing satellite campuses, etc.
Speaking further, Bugaje said, “There is also the director, Human Resources, one of the people I took so close and was representing me at meetings in Abuja.
“He was like my ambassador or liason officer, but this is a man that if he is travelling for official engagements for whatever number of days, he will claim his own BTA and that of his driver, he will take fuel, but he will take a commercial transport to Abuja.
And when gets to Abuja he goes to the NBTE liaison office to take official car, utilising their fuel to do official work.
“We have spoken to him, he has not changed, so the best thing to do with such person who cut corners like that is to move him to another department.
“Anybody with that kind of attitude is not interested in finishing an assignment.
“He will go to Abuja three, four, five times, for job that can be concluded in one visit.
“These are the challenges I have been facing and I don’t relent.
“On the issue of the creation of EXCO, I will like you to read NBTE act… it is my prerogative to set up a body that can advise me”.
John Shiklam
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