Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River has urged the state’s House of Assembly to approve N800 million for the newly-established state Polytechnic at Ugep in the Yakurr Local Government Area of the state.
The money would be sourced from the state’s Reserve Fund for Infrastructure Development, if approved.
Imoke made the request in a letter to the speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Mr Larry Odey.
A copy of the letter, seen by a correspondent the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Wednesday quoted Imoke as saying that the fund would sustain the execution of on-going projects at the institution to meet accreditation requirements.
“Arising from the urgent need to sustain the execution of on-going projects at the Cross River State Polytechnic, Ugep, to meet the National Board for Technical Education’s (NBTE’s) requirements for accreditation and early take off of the institution.
“Following the dwindling finances of the state, particularly in recent months, it has become imperative to withdraw from the state’s reserve fund to complete these projects.’’
According to Imoke, the State Government had set up a reserve fund for emergencies and future uses since 2006.
The governor said that the State Government contributed N50 million monthly to the reserve fund while the 18 Local Government Councils jointly contributed N18 million monthly, amounting to N816 million annually.
Imoke said that the re-enactment of the reserve fund law No. 7 of 2011, gave room for withdrawal upon a concurrent approval by the State Executive Council and the State House of Assembly.
He said the State Government had been intervening in the education sector and needed the assembly’s approval to draw from the fund to support funding of education projects.
Imoke said that government was poised to providing infrastructure at the polytechnic to meet NBTE requirements for accreditation and take-off.
He, however, said that his administration was financially constrained to meet the obligation and sought intervention from the reserve fund.
