The Civil Society Network Against Corruption has urged the
Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit to commence investigation
into an alleged forgery and fraud in the scandal relating to Senator
Dino Melaye’s graduation from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
In
a petition forwarded to the SFU with a copy made available to the
media, CSNAC’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, said if the scandal is not
thoroughly investigated, it is capable of sending bad impression about
the efficiency of the nation’s institutions.
The petition reads:
“Following a publication from SaharaReporters, an online based
newspaper, the media has been rife with issues of accusations and
denials with respect to the fact that Mr. Dino Melaye, a senator in the
National Assembly representing Kogi West did not graduate from ABU as he
has always alleged and severally submitted to INEC under oath for the
purpose of elections.
“The Nigerian Senate Ethics Committee
invited the said University’s Vice Chancellor; Prof. Ibrahim Garba to
appear before it to give clarifications on the issue.
“During his
appearance, he made representations to the effect that from the
university’s ‘available records’ Mr. Melaye had graduated from the
university in the year 2000.
“This is inspite of academic records
available to the public showing that some Professors at the Geography
department manipulated and forged school records to help Mr. Melaye
‘graduate’.
“A report by the said Sahara Reporters dated the 27th
day of March, 2017 however revealed that whistle blowers from ABU; a
combination of exam officers and Librarians have repudiated the claims
by the university’s Vice Chancellor that Mr. Melaye graduated from the
university.
“The reports further stated that more documents
including the Joint Convocation Brochure have been seen to prove that
Mr. Melaye did not graduate as opposed to the representations of the
Vice Chancellor, based on the fact that the senator’s name was clearly
absent from the document and also absent from the Alumni directory of
ABU amidst other critical facts.”
The
coalition stated that it is alleged that Melaye having not passed
Geography 307 (Long Field Trip), a compulsory course required for
graduation, nothing short of a crime of forgery would have resulted in
his alleged graduation.
It said: “One Prof. D.O Ogbonna (Late) was
singled out with respect to the alleged forgery, following claims that
he added two course units to Mr. Melaye’s Total Earned Course Units
without recourse to the teacher, Dr. A.L Bello, who was the supervisor
of the course.
“It was also reported that after a major academic
scandal broke out in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Ogbonna was
quietly eased out of ABU by allowing him to retire along with some other
Professors who had engaged in grade inflation.
“In addition to
the above, there are also reports that Mr. Melaye’s classmates who
reached out to SaharaReporters after the scandal broke out said he spent
at least 7-8 years studying at ABU before he left under questionable
circumstances unable to fulfil his course work.
“On the basis of
the above conflicting reports, we hereby urge and request your office to
conduct an independent, fair and unbiased investigation in the interest
of public confidence and in a bid to uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s
federal institutions, so as not to make a continuous mockery of the
caliber and integrity of persons representing the people in public
offices.
“We are of the view that if this scandal is not
thoroughly investigated, it is capable of leading watching international
media and institutions into a justifiable conclusion as to the corrupt,
inefficient and fraudulent nature of Nigerian educational institutions,
the supposedly revered Nigerian senate and the country as a whole.
“The
requested investigation has become a necessity in the face of the
current administration’s commitment to eroding corruption from our
public institutions.”
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