By Okey Alozie
Some Principals in Imo State Secondary Schools are said to be in serious battle with the New Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) Boss Augustina Azubuike over alleged transfer, retirement, extortion, threats and other irregularities.
The aggrieved Principals allegedly accused the SEMB of high handedness and wickedness to them.
Some of the aggrieved Principals who spoke to Trumpeta narrated their ordeal. The protesting Principals said, “the SEMB Boss is on vendetta as she has embarked on retiring so many Principals that are not in her good books”.
They complained that she did similar thing to head of Akwakuma Girls Secondary School Owerri North and other notable schools in Imo State.
The aggrieved Principals further complained that the SEMB office has extorted a lot of money from them.
It was also alleged that the Principals paid N3,000 to collect their promotion letters while Teachers paid N2,000 and N1,000 respectively for their own promotion letter.
Also it was alleged that there are other illegal charges that are being collected by the same office.
The protesting Principals who spoke under strict anonymity to our reporter called for the immediate removal of the new SEMB Boss, adding that she is bringing bad image to the 3R government headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma Governor of Imo State.
When contacted, the Acting Executive Secretary, Mrs Augustina Azubuike disclosed that some of the Principals protesting against her came to bribe her to allow them remain in Owerri Municipal Council but she refused to accept their bribe.
She further revealed that because of the move made by those Principals she decided to investigate their files and there after discovered that they have been retired by the former Executive Secretary.
Augustina explained that when she went through the file of some of these aggrieved Principals who are fighting her now, she discovered a lot of blunders and fraud. According to the SEMB Boss, some of the Principals should have retired since 2021 while others according to records were to have retired since March 2023.
The SEMB Boss explained that those who are retired from school system were not posted to any new school.
On the issue of Ikenegbu Girls Secondary School where two Principals are in one section fighting for the same office she said as long as she is concerned, the old Principal there have retired since 2021 but falsified her document to remain in the system. She said after due investigation to ascertain the truth, a new Principal was posted in that school but the old one who supposed to have retired refused to go.
She maintained that the aggrieved Principals are fighting her because she refused to collect bribe and allow them to remain in Owerri Municipal Council where they have stayed for years. She hinted that it was the government that directed that those who have stayed long in the city should be transferred.
Our source revealed that the legal department of SEMB corrected some of the mistakes made in the past.
We gathered that panel headed by one Njemanze discovered a lot of blunder.
