The Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko Delta State has refuted
\nmedia reports that the immediate past Vice Chancellor Professor Ongoebi
\nEtebu was sack because of alleged diversion of funds and embezzlement .<\/p>\n
The University also made clarification that the Minister of State
\nPetroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva who was chairman of the
\ngoverning council was relieved of the position,\u00a0 because of his
\nelevation as Minister and can not function in the position any longer.<\/p>\n
The Registrar of the institution Dr. Alfred Mulade\u00a0 made the
\nclarification in a letter to an online media which was made available to
\nJournalists in Yenagoa the\u00a0 Bayelsa state capital.<\/p>\n
On the alleged diversion of funds by Professor Etebu ,\u00a0 \u00a0he emphasised
\nthat ” the Governing Council in its wisdom approved the payment of
\nsalary arrears to the four principal\u00a0 \u00a0officers
\n(Prof.(Mrs).O.M.O.Etebu-Vice-C
\nNathanielEseoghene Lucky- Registrar; Mr. Hassan Bakari and Dr. Baba S.
\nAduku- Librarian). The over 100 pages of Nigeria Maritime University
\nBank statement you claim to have in his possession contain some of these
\ntransactions hence mention is made herein so that you would not deceive
\nthe public by your further false publications.”<\/p>\n
Dr. Mulade\u00a0 further\u00a0 made clarification that ”\u00a0 The dissolution of the
\nGoverning Council of the University does not have anything to-do with
\nthe alleged fraud as painted by you. His Excellency, Chief Timipre Sylva
\nwho was the Chairman Governing Council has been made Minister and there
\nwas no way he could function in these two capacities; hence the Board
\nwas dissolved to be re-constituted.<\/p>\n
“It is a well\u00a0 \u00a0known fact that the tenure of the Vice Chancellor\u00a0 \u00a0is
\ntime based\u00a0 \u00a0and therefore her tenure elapsed on the May 25, 2020. So
\nthis has nothing to do with alleged fraud as posited maliciously by you
\n.”<\/p>\n
” We hereby state categorically that, the Nigeria Maritime University,
\nOkerenkoko does not have any record of missing N3.4 Billion Naira and
\nN100 Million Naira. The trio of His Excellency, Chief Timipre Sylva,
\nEngr. Prof. (Mrs.) Maureen OrubideEtebu and Mr. Chris Maiyaiki or any
\nother person, for that matter could not have been linked to any alleged
\nfraud of this nature that did not exist, in the first place. This is a
\ntotal falsehood and blatant lies told by you.”<\/p>\n
He warned that “the University therefore distances itself from this fake
\nnews and advises you, to retract this fake news and retrace your steps.
\nThe University has concluded plans to press legal charges against you,
\nshould you fail to detract and apologize for the libelous and malicious
\npublication. To be forewarned is to be forearmed”.
\nThe letter read in part:\u00a0 “The\u00a0 \u00a0attention\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0Management\u00a0 \u00a0of
\nNigeria\u00a0 Maritime\u00a0 University,\u00a0 Okerenkoko, DeltaState,\u00a0 \u00a0has been
\ndrawn\u00a0 \u00a0to\u00a0 the\u00a0 spurious\u00a0 \u00a0publication\u00a0 \u00a0by\u00a0 you\u00a0 alleging\u00a0 \u00a0theft\u00a0 \u00a0by
\nthe\u00a0 \u00a0Vice-Chancellor of the University of the sum of Three Billion and
\nFour Hundred Million Naira(N3.4b) take-off fund and another sum of One
\nHundred Million Naira (N100m) Grantdonated\u00a0 by\u00a0 the Delta\u00a0 State
\nGovernment which\u00a0 was allegedly\u00a0 transferred into the\u00a0 ViceChancellor’s
\npersonal UBA Account.<\/p>\n
2. We wish to state from the outset that, the allegation contained in
\nyour said publication isfalse, misleading, embarrassing and vexatious.
\nIt is calculated at defaming the character ofthe Vice Chancellor and the
\nreputation of the institution. The mention of the name of HisExcellency,
\nChief Timipre Sylva, Pro-Chancellor\/Chairman of Council of the Unirsity
\nandthat of Mr. Chris Maiyaki, a Director of the National Universities
\nCommission (NUC) aswell\u00a0 \u00a0as\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0Office\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0the
\nAccountant-General\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0Federation\u00a0 \u00a0in\u00a0 \u00a0the
\npublicationveamounts to criminal false publication.<\/p>\n
3. To put the records straight, and for the benefit of the general
\npublic, Management state herewith, that Nigeria Maritime University is a
\npublic institution guided by extant financial regulations and standards,
\nand whose records are accessible to deserving members of the public\u00a0 and
\nsubject\u00a0 to scrutiny\u00a0 to\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 extent\u00a0 allowed\u00a0 \u00a0by\u00a0 law. Any\u00a0 serious
\nminded\u00a0 and dispassionate person who wishes to know how the funding of
\nthe University is done would have no difficulty in arriving at the true
\nstate of financial affairs of the University.<\/p>\n
4. We wish to point out the fact that at the time the Delta State
\nGovernment donated the sum of N100m to support the take-off of this
\nUniversity, the University did not have a TSA\u00a0 Account, and had to, with
\nthe authority of the Delta State Government duly signed by the Secretary
\nto Government (SSG) (see letter from SSG and approval to deposit the
\ncheque in the UBA account as endorsed by accountant in Asaba Government
\nHouse), lodged the Funds into the Take-Off Committee Account earlier
\ncreated by NIMASA (see NIMASA
\ndocuments on the UBA account) . Due to the fact that it would have been
\ndifficult to operate a Lagos based\u00a0 \u00a0account,\u00a0 both\u00a0 the\u00a0 \u00a0Vice
\nChancellor and\u00a0 the\u00a0 Bursar applied\u00a0 \u00a0to\u00a0 NIMASA\u00a0 for\u00a0 the domiciliation
\nof the said account in the Niger Delta in 2015, for purpose of proximity
\nand ease of transactions, and it was in this UBA account that the N100m
\ngrant from Delta State Government was deposited.<\/p>\n
5. We wish to note for emphasis that, in the Memorandum of Action at the
\nend of the conciliation\u00a0 meeting\u00a0 between\u00a0 \u00a0representatives of\u00a0 \u00a0Federal
\nGovernment\u00a0 \u00a0\/ Academic\u00a0 \u00a0Staff Union\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0Universities\u00a0 \u00a0held\u00a0 \u00a0on
\nSeptember\u00a0 \u00a018,\u00a0 \u00a02017,\u00a0 \u00a0at\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0conference\u00a0 \u00a0room\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0the
\nHonourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Abuja, it was agreed
\nconcerning TSA exemptions that “In recognition of the peculiarities of
\nsome of the sources of revenue for Universities and conditions often
\nattached to deploying such revenues that the contributing agency could
\ndictate the deployment process which was so in this case by Delta State
\nGovernment. The principal officers held a meeting in Asaba to decide on
\nthe lodgement of the\u00a0 \u00a0said\u00a0 \u00a0cheque\u00a0 \u00a0and\u00a0 \u00a0took\u00a0 \u00a0a\u00a0 \u00a0resolution\u00a0 \u00a0to
\ndeposit\u00a0 \u00a0this\u00a0 \u00a0cheque\u00a0 \u00a0in\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0UBA\u00a0 \u00a0account considering that in
\nNovember 2017, this account was the only feasible avenue available for
\noperation in order to quickly advertise in the National daily newspapers
\nfor academic staff vacancies. The funds in that account were later
\nremitted to TSA Account (see TSA bank statement) when it was eventually
\nformalized in CBN, Asaba, by February 2018 which was three months after
\nthe release of the funds the account balance was Ninety one
\nmillion,three hundred and ninety six thousand, three hundred and fifty
\nseven naira, seventeen kobo(N91,396,357.17) and this amount was lodged
\nin the university TSA account (see UBAbank statement of committee for
\ntake-off account).<\/p>\n
6. It is an absurdity of the highest order for anyone to ever
\ncontemplate that a humongous sum of N3.4 Billion could just be frittered
\naway by the Vice-Chancellor and\/or shared with some other individuals.
\nThe public should be reminded that, public institutions and indeed
\nUniversities run on e-payment transactions platforms. The
\nVice-Chancellor only signs hardcopies of approvals and releases are made
\nthrough the office of the Bursar. The formerBursar,\u00a0 \u00a0Mr.\u00a0 \u00a0Hassan\u00a0 \u00a0U.
\nBakari,\u00a0 \u00a0within\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0period\u00a0 \u00a0under\u00a0 \u00a0review,\u00a0 \u00a0was\u00a0 \u00a0the
\ninitiator\u00a0 \u00a0ofpayments, reviewed by Dr. Baba S. Aduku University
\nLibrarian, and Mr. Anho NathanielEseoghene Lucky, the then Registrar was
\nthe final approver, on the TSA platform (seeattached FGN e-Collection
\nscheme document), until the Bursary was fully constituted andnow handles
\nall of these activities.<\/p>\n
7.\u00a0 The\u00a0 fund\u00a0 \u00a0releases to\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0University by\u00a0 \u00a0Federal Government
\nare\u00a0 always\u00a0 through\u00a0 \u00a0e-transfer and accessed only in Remita which was
\noperated at the time, by the three principal officers mentioned in
\nparagraph 6 above (because the university had then not employed bursary
\nstaff) and therefore the Vice Chancellor would not have had the avenue
\nto cartaway that kind of money. It is pertinent to state herewith that
\nboth the then Registrar and the Bursar were never on good working
\nrelationship with the VC until their removal fromOffice by the Governing
\nCouncil, and therefore would not have availed her the opportunityto
\nfinancially milk the system.<\/p>\n
8. From May in 2015 when the university was put on hold and eventually
\nreopened in 2017the Vice Chancellor plugged her personal funds,
\ntechnical knowhow and energy towards the commencement of academic
\nactivities (personnel requirement, laboratories and Bills of Engineering
\nMeasurements\u00a0 \u00a0(BEME)\u00a0 \u00a0for\u00a0 \u00a0lab\u00a0 \u00a0equipment,\u00a0 \u00a0travels,\u00a0 \u00a0typing,
\nphotocopying,printing\u00a0 \u00a0logistics,\u00a0 \u00a0etc.)\u00a0 \u00a0in\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0university
\nwithout\u00a0 \u00a0receiving\u00a0 \u00a0salary\u00a0 \u00a0or\u00a0 \u00a0allowances.\u00a0 \u00a0And therefore, the
\nbank statement also reflects such releases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko Delta State has refuted media reports that the immediate past Vice Chancellor Professor Ongoebi Etebu was sack because of alleged diversion of funds and embezzlement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n