BY PETER OKUTU
ABAKALIKI—RECTOR, Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana, Ebonyi State, Professor Francis Otunta, said weekend that the protest staged by some sacked staff of the institution at the Federal High Court in the state last week was the handiwork of his detractors.

Addressing news men, Otunta, insisted that due process was followed in the rightsizing which was carried out in the polytechnic by the Federal Government under the Bureau for Public Service Reforms, BPSR, four years ago.

He said on receiving the letter dated May 24, 2007, captioned “Advice to Issue severance letters”, he appealed to the institution’s Governing Council that it would be wrong to issue severance letters without organising a pre-retirement training or payment of severance benefits to the affected staff as contained in the Generic Guidelines for the Reform.

“In spite of having received the letter, I ensured that it was kept in the cooler in order to put in place the necessary parameters that would ultimately ensure that the rightsizing exercise was carried out

with some human face following my passionate appeal that the pre-retirement training programme or severance benefits should be packaged for the affected staff.

“I must not fail to point out that at no material point in time had the Bureau of Public Service Reforms written any communiqué, memorandum, circular or counter directive to

the effect that the Federal Government had rescinded, or discontinued with the Public Service Reforms Programme.”