EGHAGHA DEBUNKS BURSARY FRAUD ACCUSATIONS THE Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education Prof. Hope Eghagha has debunked bursary fraud accusations leveled against him by one Ambrose Ezenweani a former NADESSTU leader in UNILAG. Prof. Eghagha in a statement titled RE: DELTA STATE STUDENTS PROTEST NON-PROSECUTION OF BURSARY SCAM IN UNILAG said “My attention has been drawn to a publication by Saharareporters which reported an alleged demonstration by some students of University of Lagos, during which some libelous statements were credited to one Ambrose Ezenwani, a former student of the University of Lagos. “Ordinarily, I would have ignored the report. But because my name and reputation which I have built over three decades are being impugned by Ezenwani, I have decided to issue a rebuttal. I have also briefed my counsel to initiate action against the slanderer. “I have been in government, trying to practice what I preached as a critic, by ensuring judicious use of public funds. I have NEVER been involved in fraud and will never get into fraudulent actions. I have, working in concert with others, and with the approval of our prudent Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, saved Delta State Government millions of Naira by plugging leakages. What is being spearheaded by Ambrose and his cohorts is a backlash against us for being the driving force against years of bursary scam. “The first point to be made is that on assumption of office as Commissioner for Higher Education in 2009, I was confronted with one sad reality: some funds meant for students never got to them. A cabal within the institutions and others cornered funds meant for students. Along with members of the Scholarship Board headed by Monsignor Buchi Aninye, we took steps to sanitize the process. “All staff were transferred and new persons posted to the board from the Civil Service. A new Executive Secretary was also appointed by the Governor. We introduced online registration so that potential beneficiaries could deal directly with the Scholarship Board. This yielded fruits. Twenty-three thousand fake names were discovered and expunged from the list. “I was surprised that two days after we announced to the world that fake names were found on the bursary list, some students, including Ambrose and his ilk, demonstrated in Asaba and accused members of the Board of inserting the names. They targeted the Executive Secretary who is the Chief Executive of the Board. At that time, my name was not mentioned. Suddenly, it is ‘Mr. Hope Eghagha’ that inserted fake names! “As for the purported demonstration by students, I call on the reporters to visit Unilag and ascertain those who took part in it. The reporter who first called for my response said that they were a handful. Indeed, they are not students of Unilag. The genuine leaders and members of National Association of Delta State Students were not aware of any protest and did not take part because they are satisfied with the scheme. “The following is the breakdown of releases made since 2009. In 2009/2010, the approved sum was N514,706.035.75. Of this, N434,646,035.75 was expended while savings amounted to N80,060,000. In 2010/2011, the approved sum was N653,700,932.29; the sum of N481,145,432.29 was expended; savings amounted to N172,555,500. In 2011/2012, the approved sum was N610,134,868.46; amount expended was N 555,134,868.46. N55,000,000.00 was saved. “In 2012/2013, the sum of N699,650,256.50 was approved for the bursary. Payment is on-going. Each year, whatever was saved as a result of plugged leakages were ploughed back into payment for the next year with the approval of the State Executive Council. “I was never detained by any security organization in the country or elsewhere as alleged by Ambrose, a scoundrel who revels in mudslinging and campaigns of calumny” the statement concluded.
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 06:04:36 +0000
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