After waiting eight hours for a scheduled election into the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), parents at the Federal Government Girls College Owerri in Imo State protested on Sunday.
Contrary to procedure, the outgoing PTA fixed Sunday, June 15th, 2025, for conducting the election, against the wishes of parents who complained bitterly that it was a worship day for Christians that doubled as Father’s Day for many.
Leadership reports that parents had turned up in their numbers on Sunday morning to elect new officials for the school and were duly cleared.
The electoral team had warned that accreditation would be strictly held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., a situation that forced parents to abandon attending church, especially to celebrate Father’s Day.
Leadership reports that after over 500 parents were accredited into the election venue within the school, no official declared the commencement of the voting or explained the reason for the delay.
A concerned parent, Mrs Igboanusi, told parents that she learnt the Principal, the outgoing PTA chairman, and officials from the Federal Ministry of Education were in a meeting from 9am until this report was filed.
However, the election scheduled for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. as of 3:50 p.m. had yet to commence, and the authorities had not explained the delay.
Some parents lamented that they had to shelve the church entirely to elect representatives to liaise with the school’s management and parents.
By 2pm, some people started leaving, especially because no official explained the true situation to the parents.
But by 3:55 p.m., parents unanimously decided to march to the Principal’s office for an explanation for the continued delay despite the downpour.
Meanwhile, there is a heavy presence of Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps officials to ensure no security breaches.
