Baze University, Abuja has evicted 39 students who are on scholarship by the Sokoto State government due to non-payment of N71.4 million outstanding fees owed the state government.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the students were transferred back to the university from abroad by the state government and still could not pay their tuition fees at home.
This is despite the monthly deductions of millions of Naira by the state government from the salaries and allowances of their parents as education levy, a source has confirmed to DAILY NIGERIAN.
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“In the same month of May, the Sokoto State Government distributed millions of naira to party youth leaders as “Money for Ramadan Sugar” at exactly the same time these children were stranded in their university.
“This should clearly tell us the kind of youths the government of Aminu Tambuwal is interested in developing,” the source lamented.
Giving the reason for the eviction, in a letter dated Thursday, June 21, 2018, the university registrar, Inuwa Idris, said all efforts to have the state’s scholarship board settle their outstanding fees did not yield the desired result.
Responding, however, through a letter dated Monday 25, June 2018, the state scholarship board chairman, Altine Kajiji, disputed the figure the university quoted as owing them, saying that only N62.9 million is what they are being owed by the institution.
Mr Kajiji said the board had paid 50 % of this year’s tuition fees, adding that the state government had never defaulted in the payment of the tuition fees.
He, however, admitted that the delay in this year’s payment was due to some financial predicaments the state is currently faced with.
The chairman, therefore, assured the university management of the state government’s resolve to settle the bills, “which will be very soon.
Speaking with DAILY NIGERIAN on the fate of the student, Mr Kajiji said he didn’t know because there was no money to pay and unfortunately the university management could not understand with the state’s predicament.
“I don’t think there is any organisation or state that is paying to them what we are paying to them as tuition fees. Besides, Baze University is not the only institution Sokoto state government is dealing with.
“They say they have financial problems that they can’t even pay salaries. But the institution is a private venture, it was not built with Sokoto state in mind. They should rather look elsewhere for funding,” he lamented.
