Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party’s candidate for the upcoming Edo State governorship election, is facing criticism for allegedly making misleading statements during a recent town hall meeting.
Akpata’s comments were intended to highlight issues at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), but the Edo State Government has since disputed the accuracy of his claims.
In a statement issued by Chris Osa Nehikhare, the State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, the government corrected Akpata’s assertions.
According to the government, Contrary to Akpata’s claim that AAU lecturers are owed “close to 30 months” of salaries, the AAU staff are paid regularly, on or before the 26th of each month. The only exceptions are a few staff members who did not complete the state’s biometric data capture and were therefore removed from the payroll.
Akpata also claimed that several faculties at AAU had lost accreditation, but the government clarified that in the Nigerian University System, accreditation is granted to individual academic programs, not entire faculties.
The government further noted that 62 of AAU’s 71 programs currently have full accreditation, with only a few awaiting reassessment.
The statement reads, “Olumide Akpata, Labour Party Governorship candidate got it completely wrong.
At a recent townhall meeting, Olumide Akpata made assertions that were soundbites to hoodwink Edo people so he could appear informed and knowledgeable.
Below are some corrections to help Olumide Akpata get better informed and knowledgeable.
“It is not true that lecturers are being owed “close to 30 months” salaries. AAU workers receive their salaries on or before the 26th of every month. This fact is there for anyone to verify, including the gubernatorial aspirant doing the propaganda rant. While there are staff who removed themselves from the payroll of the University by their refusal to take part in or failure to complete the Edo State Government biometric data capture, such staff are few. All other staff are getting their salaries regularly.
“The University is unaware of faculties that have lost accreditation and would have appreciated it if the Labour candidate listed them since he claimed to know the University better than those running it. By way of information, Faculties do not get accredited in the Nigerian University System; only academic programmes do. In the Nigerian University System, accreditation status has a validity period. Once the accreditation period has passed, the academic programme is subjected to reaccreditation. In November/December 2023, 42 academic programmes in AAU faced the NUC Accreditation, and we are expecting the accreditation report. The Nursing Science programme will soon face the Nursing and Midwifery Council accreditation. Same with the Engineering and some other courses. The University runs 71 programmes. 62 of these enjoy Full Accreditation, and 5 Interim Accreditation, while 4 are yet to be visited.
“It has become commonplace for politicians who want to score cheap political points to create imaginary problems in AAU and use them as attack weapons against the State Government and the University Administration. The Ambrose Alli University Administration is focused on its mandate and has succeeded in maintaining an uninterrupted academic calendar. Appropriate automation technologies, student information management systems, etc have been deployed to move the University from its analog past to its present digital state for which the University has been recognised and duly rewarded. In 2017, 2019, 2021 and, lately, 2023, AAU was presented with 3 awards by the Nigeria Technology Award (NiTA) as: 1) State University Website/Portal of the Year, 2) Excellence in Technology Deployment State University, and 3) Best Use of Social Media State University.
“The University received a special commendation from the National Youth Service Corp as the highest CPI – Corp Producing Institution in Nigeria in 2022. This was at a time when most universities, apart from private universities, were unable to mobilise corps members as a result of the Covid 19 lockdown and strike which followed.
“Thhe global ranking of Ambrose Alli University is improving yearly. The innovations implemented by the present University Administration are being appreciated by all fair-minded people. The much-talked-about future has started at Ambrose Alli University. We advise the candidate of the Labour Party to get accurate information about Ambrose Alli University before going public with the sentiments of a few disgruntled elements.”