The verification exercise ordered by the Special Adviser to
the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme,
Prof Charles Dokubo, of previous deployment of ex-militants for educational
programmes to some universities in the country, has uncovered fraud in the
process.
Special Assistant to Prof Dokubo, Mr Murphy
Ganagana, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said the number of
students enrolled in universities under the programme was not captured in the
data base at Amnesty Office. The committee was set up to ascertain the number
of beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme who were deployed to universities
onshore for various educational programmes. The statement did not, however,
give the amount involved as the committee was yet to round off its assignment,
but uncovered large scale fraud. The statement read: “The verification exercise
carried out uncovered irregularities in previous deployment of delegates for
educational programmes at some universities in the country. The discovery
followed a verification exercise ordered by Prof Dokubo on assumption of
office. “A committee set up to ascertain the number of beneficiaries of the
Amnesty programme hitherto deployed to universities onshore for various educational
programmes, discovered that an alarming number of students enrolled in
universities under the Amnesty Programme were not captured in the Data Base at
the Amnesty Office. “Against the backdrop of huge tuition fees forwarded to the
Amnesty Office for payment by some universities in the country for supposed
beneficiaries deployed to the institutions for study, Dokubo constituted a
committee headed by the Head of Reintegration, Amnesty Office, Chief
Aroloyeteim Brown, to verify beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme in local
universities. “The committee was among others, mandated to ascertain admission
process of the students into the various institutions; determine whether the
students are beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, and, if not, who was responsible
for their admission or deployment. “It is also probing the disparity in tuition
fees for students deployed by the Amnesty Office and others undergoing same
programmes at the institutions to ascertain if there had been insider
collaboration to pad fees of our delegates for pecuniary interests.”
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