A socio-political group in Ekiti State, the Ekiti Positive Forum (EPF) has appealed to the National Universities’ Commission (NUC) to grant approval to the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti (EKSU), formerly University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD).
The forum said it was concerned about the fate of the students that were still being made to carry out academic activities in the school as well as their parents, who pay schools fees not knowing the status of the university .
EPF, which made this appeal in a statement signed by its Chairman, Chief David Oke and Secretary, Evangelist Moses Adekunle added that, “NUC must act promptly by either granting EKSU its approval or shutting it down pending when it would grant the approval so as to protect the interests of the students and their parents.
“Though we understand that the State Government should have got the NUC approval for the change of name before repealing the laws establishing UNAD and the University of Science and Technology,
Ifaki-Ekiti (USTI). But now that the mistake has been made, the NUC should pardon the State government to save the students’ future from jeopardy,” the forum said.
While stating the implication of the non approval of EKSU by the NUC, EPF said; “As at today, the reality is that EKSU is not known to law and as such does not exist in the face of the law.
“Therefore, anyone claiming to be student of EKSU is just as good as a student of an illegal university.
“It would have been better if the law establishing UNAD had not been repealed by the State House of Assembly as this would have made it possible for the university to be operating as UNAD pending the NUC approval of EKSU.
Meanwhile, in another development, Justice For All Nations (JFAN), a United States of America (USA) based non-governmental organisation (NGO) has described the planned commencement of the trial of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged operation of 16 foreign bank accounts while in office as Lagos State governor as a welcome development.