The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Ambrose Ali University Edo State has described as false the recent report that some students living oversees graduated from the university.
A Special Investigation Team, SIT, set up by Governor Obaseki had in a report submitted to him uncovered how 30 students studying abroad graduated from the school.
The report had jolted not a few Nigerians who wondered how it’s possible for the students to graduate from the university when they did not attend classes.
The team said they discovered the anomaly after going through the marking of the students’ examination script by the lecturers.
But reacting to the report, ASUU chairman of the ASUU chapter, Dr Cyril Onognosele, described the allegation as false, he also dared the SIT to publish the full details of the students who are involved in the alleged scam.
Onognosele said in statement on Wednesday that the allegation is capable of destroying the university’s reputation, and also demarket it, adding that the team has an ulterior motives for raising such serious allegation against the university.
According to him, “ASUU considers this allegation of academic fraud as an illusion and demands publication of the names, courses, departments, years of graduation of the students in question as well as details of the lecturers involved in the alleged academic fraud.
“Does graduation of students in a university start and end with “marking of scripts”? Among other requirements, for a student to graduate from the University, first, the student must be admitted, registered, take lectures, pass the examination of courses, and get the approval of results/recommendation for graduation from the Department Board of Studies, Faculty Board of Studies and the Senate of the University.
“Why then is the graduation of the students in the alleged academic fraud restricted to “marking of scripts by lecturers”? Undoubtedly, it is a ploy to give the dog a bad name so as to hang it. For self-serving reasons, a particular member of the SIT who is the de facto chairman of the team is preoccupied with, and committed to blackmailing the academic staff of the University and demarketing the University in order to consign the image of the University to the hall of shame.
“This has serious implications for the academic integrity and credibility of the University in local, national, and global competitiveness, and is unacceptable to ASUU and stakeholders of goodwill for the University.
“Consequently, we insist on a thorough, transparent, and just investigation of the claim of academic fraud in the University widely believed to be in the realm of propaganda and blackmail. We urge the Visitor to the University/Governor of Edo State to direct full investigation into the allegation of academic fraud which is an ‘indictment’ of all relevant organs and authorities of the University and not just the lecturer,” Onognosele said.
