By Bayo Bernard
Dr. William Babatunde Fowler, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has escaped many booby traps set on his path by his traducers since he was appointed into that position by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
But his enemies seem not to have abandoned their plot to rubbish him yet.
Thus barely a week after the former chairman of the Lagos Internal Revenue Service was queried by the chief of staff to the president, Abba Kyari over presidency’s perceived discrepancy in the revenue generated into the federation account in the last four years by FIRS, a new flank has been opened in the controversy surrounding Fowler, an associate of APC leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The FIRS boss is said to be parading fake university certificates.
The allegation was first made in 2016 by popular social critic and Professor of Journalism at Kennesand State University, Georgia Farooq Kperogi.
The activist, on Tuesday August 2, reiterated the allegation which he posted in his official social media pages.
Fowler claims in his curriculum vitae, CV that he holds a honorary Doctorate Degree from the Irish International University, IIU, United Kingdom.
He also claims to have obtained his master’s degree from the California state university and his first degree from the University of Wisconsin, both in the United State of America, USA.
But Kperogi said Fowler may not have obtained genuine certificates.
“I fear that if this Fowler’s other certificates are looked into, a big scandal may break out. His Bachelor’s degree, for instance, is said to be from the University of Wisconsin and his master’s degree from California State University
The trouble is, University of Wisconsin and California state universities are multiple campus universities: you can’t just say you attended the University of Wisconsin without mentioning the location.
The University of Wisconsin has 26 campuses and California state university has 23 campuses.”
Therefore, looking at Dr. Fowler’s certificate, “something is fishy here,” Kperogi said in the allegation.
Few years ago, the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC conducted an investigation to ascertain the authenticity of the Irish International University where Dr. Fowler claimed he obtained his honorary doctoral degree, at the end it was discovered that the University was not accredited by UK education authority.
Sean O’Foghlu, chief executive officer of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland told the BBC that before IIU can use the “ the word university in a title, it needs approval from our Department of Education and Science,” but that “no such approval has been given by our department” to the Irish International University.
The BBC later discovered that Quality Assurance Commission-UK Ltd, the body that purportedly accredited the IIU, is a private enterprise, owned by Professor Hardeep Singh Sandhu, a Malaysian business man who’s also the President and Chief Executive of the University.
The BBC, in the report, later concluded that Fowler and many other students may have been scammed by the university.
“Although the organization is unaccredited, hundreds of students have been given educational visas to enter Britain and take it exams at private colleges in London.
The IIU, which has 5000 students worldwide and thousands of graduates, maintains the illusion of a valid education through its elaborate but highly misleading website,” the BBC said.
In March this year nine employees of the Service were arrested by the EFCC over fraud.
