ABSU VC denies receiving staff salary from gov aspirant

The Vice-Chancellor of Abia State University,
Professor Chibuzor Ogbuagu, has stoutly debunked the
rumour making the rounds that a certain governorship
aspirant in the state paid one month salary arrears of staff
of the institution.
Professor Ogbuagu who made the denial while fielding
questions from journalists during a pre- convocation press
conference, said that there was no iota of truth in the
speculation, and enjoined members of the public to disregard
it.
He however, admitted that one of the aspirants, Dr.
Uche Ogah, had about three years ago, approached the
management of the institution for a parcel of land to build
an auditorium which he had since donated to the school.
The VC said payment of staff salary has been from only
two sources – the state government, and the Internally
Generated Revenue of the university.
He also denied speculations that lecturers and students
were deserting the university in droves due to poor
working condition and high school fees.
Professor Ogbuagu said that movement of lecturers from
the university to other institutions was normal and not
peculiar to ABSU.
He said that it was not strange to the university system
for lecturers to move from one school to another,
contending that himself had been to seven different
universities as a lecturer.
His words: ” There is no brain drain in ABSU; what
we have is normal flow of lecturers , and it allows for
solid cross fertilization of ideas”.
The VC announced a downward review of tuition by 20
percent , saying that Medicine and Surgery students now
pay N100,000 , while students of professional courses ,
and normal courses pay N90,000 and N80,000
respectively.
He said the reduction in fee was in response to appeals by
students , and to make for competitive fairness.
The VC said management of the institution had zero
tolerance for cultism and illegalities, disclosing that over
seven lecturers including a Reverend Father had been
dismissed due to some unwholesome acts.
On the proposed relocation of the Law faculty of the
university to Umuahia, the VC said the policy was in
line with the laws establishing the institution which made it
” a three- campus institution with branches in Aba and
Umuahia, while Uturu is the main campus”.
He commended the state government for defraying the
salary arrears of staff, as well as federal government for
its financial supports through the Tertiary Education Trust
Fund.