Fraud Allegation by Alumni Association False, Malicious, Says PAAU VC

Ibrahim Oyewale, Lokoja

The Management of Prince Abubarka Audu University (PAAU), Anyingba, Kogi State, has described the online report about purported allegation of N31 million frauds by the disgruntled and factional executive members of the Alumni Association as false, malicious and calculated attempt to distract the pace of development in the institution.

The Vice Chancellor of the PAAU, Professor Marietu Ohunene Tenuche, disclosed this yesterday while speaking in a chat with newsmen at former university’s auditorium in Anyingba, where he   stated that the alumni association was trying to drag the name of institution into mud.

While reacting to the online report titled: “Re -KSU N31 million Frauds, Setting the Record Straight,” the vice chancellor stated that the report was a desperate attempt to mislead the public.

Tenuche explained that prior to her appointment as the vice chancellor of the university, there have been crises rocking the alumni association that has been factionalised and dragged themselves to court.

The vice chancellor said that the immediate past management was aware of these problems and tried to solve them, stressing that their efforts proved abortive and the authority was dragged before the court of law, which granted interlocutory injunction to stop them from parading themselves.

“But when I was appointed as vice chancellor, two factions of the same group booked appointment to see me .I did received them at the same time. They were surprise and none of the group could claim superiority.

“However, there was an agreement that the factions should as a matter of peace and tranquility should sort out themselves to enhance smooth coexistence among them.”

She noted that trouble started when the immediate past management had change the name of the account of the institution that was opened for the alumni association money to development account and left the account as it were the crises was becoming intractable.

She added that the executive of the Alumni Association has always been fighting over money, stressing that this is the levies charged from the graduating students of the institution.

She said: “I told them that this is not going to be acceptable under the new management. So they, therefore, came pretending that they are united. I told them that if the case continued, it is I that will be attending the court, which I promised that I will not do.

“After presenting a letter to the new management we went back to the bank and the made payment of the N17 million to Alumni. Only for them to go drag us before the court again claiming that they were being owed N25 million as legal fees.”

She noted that the High Court had to garnish our account with N25 million.

The vice chancellor posited that it was, therefore, resolved that the alumni association should operate independent of the university’s system.