A leadership crisis has erupted at the Federal Polytechnic, Wannune, in Benue State, Nigeria. Dr. Tyover Dajoh, the rector, and Dr. Doris Iorchir, the former deputy rector, are in a dispute over her status and control of an official vehicle. The crisis began after Iorchir's appointment as deputy rector was terminated. Dajoh has asked Iorchir to return the official vehicle assigned to her. He also warned the public and students against dealing with her as deputy rector, citing ongoing court cases.
According to Dajoh, Iorchir is no longer a staff member of the institution following the termination of her appointment. He stated that the institution had made several attempts to recover the vehicle through its transport officer and chief security officer. Dajoh urged Iorchir to return the vehicle pending the resolution of the legal issues between her and the institution. He disputed her claim that an injunction had been issued restraining the polytechnic from taking action against her.
Dajoh challenged Iorchir to provide the case number, names of the parties, date of the order, and the name of the judge who allegedly issued the injunction. He said Iorchir had earlier petitioned the institution over the termination of her appointment and that the polytechnic had responded to the issues raised. The institution's position is that her appointment had not been confirmed, and the Governing Council had taken a decision on the matter after considering the circumstances surrounding her case.
The registrar of the polytechnic, Joseph Olusegun, corroborated the rector's position, saying Iorchir had recently contacted his office and forwarded documents relating to her court case. Olusegun stated that the Governing Council had not reversed its earlier decision on Iorchir's appointment. He assumed office about six months ago and briefed the rector on the documents.
Dajoh attributed the disagreement to a recruitment exercise conducted by the institution, which received about 3,000 applications for vacant positions and introduced an aptitude test as part of the screening process. A disagreement arose after Iorchir proceeded with the marking of the test scripts despite his instruction that the exercise should be suspended until his return from an official engagement in Abuja.
Iorchir rejected Dajoh's position, insisting that she remained the deputy rector and was currently acting as rector pending the appointment of an acting rector by the Governing Council. She argued that there was a vacancy in the office of rector and that, pending the council's appointment of an acting rector, she was entitled to act in that capacity by virtue of her position as deputy rector and the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics Act.
Iorchir disclosed that she had issued a pre-action notice to the Governing Council and the polytechnic and would seek judicial intervention if the council failed to act in accordance with the Federal Polytechnics Act 2004, as amended in 2019. She also questioned the circumstances surrounding Dajoh's appointment as rector, saying she had challenged the validity of his emergence.
Key points
- The leadership crisis at the Federal Polytechnic, Wannune, is centered on the status of Dr. Doris Iorchir as deputy rector and her claim to be acting rector.
- Dr. Tyover Dajoh has asked Iorchir to return the official vehicle assigned to her, citing ongoing court cases.
- Iorchir has issued a pre-action notice to the Governing Council and the polytechnic, threatening to seek judicial intervention if her demands are not met.
