ABSU VC Denies Staff Arrest By EFCC

The Vice Chancellor, Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu, Prof. Mkpa Mkpa has denied arrest of any staff of the institution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He told newsmen on Thursday at Uturu in Abia that “neither the vice chancellor nor the registrar or any principal officer was arrested by the EFCC.

“The March 9 publication in some dailies was malicious and damaging, as all the officers allegedly arrested are at their duty posts,” he added.

He admitted that EFCC came to the university following a petition by some members of an alumni group over the stoppage of certain alumni collection by the university.

He said the alumni group had submitted documents demanded by the commission on March 8, following a petition that the authorities of the institution allegedly embezzled N10 billion.

According to him, the petitioner accused the officials of appropriating the land in the university to themselves as well as the highest number of shares in the university micro-finance bank.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state that no corrupt practice was established against any of the officers to warrant any such action by the commission, as a result, there was no arrest.

“The purported arrest was the devilish brain wave of a clique of self-seeking individuals masquerading as officials of ABSU alumni association,” he said.

He said that the financial records of ABSU were available for scrutiny, stressing that the institution, since he assumed office, had not made N10 billion.

The vice chancellor said that the allegations would not distract the university administration, adding that “we are focused and committed in our quest to make ABSU one of the best universities in the world.”

He called on the affected media to retract the story and render a public apology to the officers concerned.

He said that if they failed to do so, “we will be compelled to commence legal action.”

Mkpa said that journalism was a noble profession but expressed worry that none of the reporters approached them to hear their own side of the story.

A newspaper publication on March 9 reported that the vice chancellor and the registrar of the university were arrested by the EFCC over embezzlement.