Taiwo Popoola
The dust over the appointment of Prof. Aisha Maikudi as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, is yet to settle as some aggrieved professors from the university have called for the investigation of over N3 billion alleged fraud uncovered by a report of the 2021 Presidential Visitation Panel to the university for the 2019/2020 academic session.
While the university has denied breaching any law in the appointment of Maikudi, the lecturers, who pleaded anonymity, claim there was a sinister ploy by individuals complicit in the alleged fraud to put her at the helms of affairs in order to deter any investigation.
According to them, the report, which was submitted to former Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, and published on the ministry’s website, showed there were a series of discrepancies in audited reports during the 2019/2020 session, adding that there was a failure of the then Governing Council to take measures to correct them.
They further alleged a correlation between the appointment of Prof Aisha Maikudi as Vice-Chancellor of the University and attempts to cover up activities of the then-Governing Council which was Chaired by Alhaji Sani Maikudi, father of the VC.
Recall that on June 11, 2021, the Presidential Visitation Panel to the University of Abuja, Chaired by Alhaji Bujar Goni Aji, which was inaugurated on 13th April 2021, submitted its report within sixty days, covering 2011-2015 and 2016-2020.
“The Panel observed that the Governing Council had taken policy steps of boosting the IGR base of the University through upward review of student fees and blocking of leakages in payments.
“To this effect, the Council approved the engagement of Messrs Edutech Portal Solutions, at the cost of N18,900,000, for the deployment of the Student Fees Management Portal to block leakages in payments.
“The Panel however noted that based on the official students’ enrollment and the approved student fees as at the 2019/2020 session, the University had the propensity of generating N 4,869,033,958 as against N1,654,896,918 declared by the University Bursary in the Panel’s DGT (see Chap 4 & Vol II, Appendix 50, Page 437)./,” the 342-page report said in part.
The panel also recommended that “Council should investigate the wide discrepancy between the figure of
the IGR from student fees as declared by Bursary; and that deduced by
the Panel from the official enrollment data and approved fees and
charges.”
Meanwhile, the lecturers, who spoke to newsmen over the weekend, alleged that a past VC of the University was in cahoots with the current one to ensure that no action is taken on the damning report.
