PDP spokesman decries alleged diversion of Federal Polytechnic Adikpo to Wannune in Benue

It is now official from the Federal Ministry of Education that the Federal Polytechnic slot for Benue State earlier cited in Adikpo, Kwande LGA has been relocated to Wannune in Tarka LGA.

The institution was cited in Adikpo through the representative/ lobby efforts of Senator Barnabas A Gemade while he held sway as Senator for the Benue North-East (Zone ‘A’) Senatorial District during the 7th and 8th Senate.

Work had already commenced on the site premises with structures being erected preparatory to take-off before this rude shock of an annexation.

Prior to now there had been rumours about the matter, with suspicions particularly aroused late last year when work suddenly resumed in a frenzy on a particular school site under construction in Wannune widely believed to belong to Mrs. Regina Akume, wife of Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, George Akume .

It was the speculation that the Minister was working assiduously underground to annex the Federal Polytechnic located in Adikpo to Wannune and to have it cited on that particular school site believed to be owned by his wife.

It is now no longer a rumour, but a confirmed development, albeit one which cuts such a bizarre spectacle and leaves a sour taste to the mouth given certain facts which just can’t be wished away.

Firstly, the citing of the Federal Polytechnic in Adikpo was a most welcome development chiefly for the reason that it is in the Benue North-East (Zone ‘A’) Senatorial District which incidentally is the largest of the three Senatorial Districts, both in population and landmass.

However, while the other two districts, Zones ‘B’ and ‘C’, both have numerous tertiary institutions of learning, federal and state owned, cited therein, Zone ‘A’ has only the College of Education, Katsina-Ala as a tertiary institution of learning.

The citing of the Federal Polytechnic in Adikpo through the efforts of Senator Gemade was, therefore, a step towards addressing this imbalance.