By Amos Aar
TEACHERS employed by the Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB) and posted to Tilley Gyado College, Makurdi and living in the school’s staff quarters have accused their principal, Dr Emmanuel Zakaa, of alleged embezzlement of three million naira (N3 million) meant for the renovation of the school’s dilapidated staff quarters.
National Record got hint of the alleged embezzlement from a Facebook post made by one Shiaondo Dewasen on June 20, 2023. In the post, Dewasen alleged that teachers living in the school’s staff quarters contributed money through the school’s staff cooperative society for the renovation of the structures but the funds were not utilised for the purpose and no satisfactory account was given them by the principal of the principal, Dr Zakaa.
When contacted on June 27, 2023 by National Record, five of the school’s teachers confirmed the allegation.
Although all the teachers spoken to pleaded anonymity for fear of further persecution, they however noted that funds were raised since 2021 for the purpose through monthly deductions from their salaries for the planned renovation which never materialised.
According to them, the amounts deducted varied according to the category of the rooms. While some teachers paid five thousand naira, others paid two thousand five hundred monthly.
But the Vice Principal (Administration) of the school, Mr John Abur, told National Record in an interview that though monthly deductions were made from teachers’ salaries, they were not more than three thousand naira per month.
The teachers, in their response to Mr Abur, however claimed that they had evidence of the deductions which they refused to show to our correspondent, citing office rules. According to them, they were however ready to produce the payment evidence if invited by TSB.
The teachers also said they were not paying rent before Dr Zakaa became principal of the school five years ago because the quarters were nearly uninhabitable. They claimed that the principal initiated the idea of the deductions for renovation only when he came on board and that they welcomed the policy.
The principal however argued that the deductions through the school’s cooperative started before he was made principal, adding that the deduction from the teachers’ salaries was just one of the revenue sources for the school and not for renovation purpose.
Zakaa who revealed that he has been a staff of Tilley Gyado College since 2008 and has worked under different principals said he had faced similar deductions under former principals while staying in the staff quarters but those deductions were not used for renovation but as rent.
“How it came was that I was the cooperative chairman before I was made principal and I was the one that facilitated the deduction of our salaries at source or deduction of our cooperative money at source because when we went there, some schools were deducting welfare and rent at the same time. So, TSB now said that the deductions were becoming too many. So, TSB said whatever deductions you have, merge it together and when you deduct, share among yourselves.
“So, we have been deducting through the cooperative, we have been deducting welfare built in the cooperative. I was the one that championed that through the approval of TSB.
“At a point, I told the then proprietor, Mr Iornyagh that as we are collecting this money, we need development, so let’s not be [circulating] it in piecemeal. Let’s allow the money to stay with the cooperative for some time”, Zakaa said.
He claimed that the money in question was used for the renovation of a block of rooms following a threat from the Benue State Environmental Sanitation Agency (BENSESA) to take the school’s management to court on the ground that a dilapidated block which contained two offices and five classrooms had become a death-trap.
“BENSESA came here and threatened to take us to court that that building was a death-trap and we needed to act on it urgently. As we were looking for money left and right, he said that since we have some money here, we should approach the cooperative let them give us some money so that we can add to whatever we got.
“We collected items on loan from people that sell building materials and added to that to carry out this building and the building is progressing. Look at the building here, it’s not even completed. It is housing two offices and five classrooms”, the principal said.
Asked how much was the total amount deducted from the teachers and used for the renovated building, the principal said the management was yet to calculate the various sums deducted to arrive at a grand total. But he insisted that the money was not up to a million naira owing to irregular or prolonged non-payment of their salaries.
Backing the principal, the Vice Principal (Administration) further stated that the claim of the said contribution to renovate staff quarters was a fallacy. He argued that it is not the responsibility of teachers anywhere in the country to renovate school structures but rather the responsibility of the government, old students’ associations and Parents Teachers’ Associations (PTA).
Debunking the Vice Principal’s assertion, one of the teachers spoken to by National Record said he had contributed to the renovation of his accommodation in the past under a former principal of the school, Mr Torver Osu, and the building was renovated.
He said: “When I came to this school initially, we were not paying rent because the structures were dilapidated. In fact, three rooms were without roof because it was blown off by windstorm. I reached an agreement with the former principal. I contributed money and this one was roofed”.
The teacher said it was when Dr Zakaa took over as principal that he introduced the rent payment contrary to what the principal said that he “facilitated” the cooperative deductions for rent before he was made principal.
“When the incumbent principal took over, he introduced rent. He said that all teachers staying in the quarters should be paying rent so that when the money becomes reasonable, it will be used to renovate the dilapidated quarters. The rent was deducted through the school’s cooperative and the records are available”.
But like the principal, the Vice Principal (Administration), Mr Abur, said the management and the staff unanimously agreed that money for rent be deducted through the school’s cooperative and remitted to the ministry of finance through the TSB but not for renovation.
“You know, times are hard. So, if you say they should collect money before they will come and remit their deductions to the cooperative, some people don’t come. So, we all agreed that deductions should be made by ourselves. So, we submit our deductions to the ministry of finance through Teaching Service Board.
“We all agreed that henceforth, money for rent should be paid through that means. We just added rent on top of the cooperative for those living on the staff quarters and when the money is paid, the cooperative will remit the money to the school’s management.
“So, the money was not for the teachers to contribute for the renovation of staff quarters. It was for normal rent that people pay whether in the school or outside. It was not tagged money for renovation, it was simply rent payment”, Abur argued.
He added that when salaries were no longer paid regularly, the school’s management appealed to the Ministry of Education to relax rent payment and it was stopped since 2021.
Mr Abur also argued that the total money collected was not up to one million naira because the monthly deductions were very meagre.
Although the school’s management denied the allegations of misappropriation and embezzlement, the teachers unanimously maintained their position that the agreement reached with them was to renovate their quarters which must be fulfilled.
The teachers who also alleged that they were being intimidated by the school’s authority with punitive transfer for demanding accountability for their money, also cried out to TSB for intervention even as the school’s management said there was a cordial and peaceful working relation with the staff despite the fraud allegation.
TSB, Education Ministry React
When contacted to confirm if it was aware of the deductions for rent as claimed by the principal, Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB) gave a vague response.
TSB’s accountant, Mr Francis Akorchia Agbadu, told National Record that the aggrieved teachers and the principal should approach TSB as a family if they have such misunderstanding.
However, when contacted on phone, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Education, Mr Agbo Ochekpe, who is overseeing the ministry as Governor Hyacinth Alia is yet to appoint commissioners, said he was not aware of the said deductions and demanded that the principal, Dr Emmanuel Zakaa, should present letter of authorisation issued to him by the Ministry of Education to deduct teachers’ salaries for rent if he so claimed.
“It will be good for him to show the letter of authorisation. That kind of thing, we cannot authorise it by mouth because I am not aware of it,” Ochekpe said, distanced himself.
