…Prince Abubakar Audu University says the affected students were found guilty of gross examination misconduct and violation of academic regulations following investigations by its Senate.
By Mudi Mohammed
The Senate of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, has approved the expulsion of six students for gross examination misconduct and the withdrawal of nine others for poor academic performance and registration violations.
This was contained in a statement signed by the University’s Public Relations Officer, Uredo Omale.
According to the statement, the decision was taken during the 167th Regular Meeting of Senate held at the University Auditorium.
The Senate considered the report of the Examination Misconduct Committee which confirmed that some 100-level students of the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology rewrote the course BOT102, Introduction to Plant Science, at the private residence of the course lecturer, Dr. Maji Okpanachi, days after the official examination.
The committee found that each of the affected students paid N10,000 to the lecturer to sit for the re-written examination.
Consequently, Senate approved the expulsion of the six students involved. They are Itodo Ojonugwa Jeremiah, Olloh Kizito Ojoajogwu, Okpanachi Favour, Abdulkadiri Senusi, Umar Imran and Lawrence Salami, all of the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology.
“The University will not tolerate any act capable of compromising the credibility and integrity of its academic and examination processes,” said the Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of Senate, Prof. Salisu Ogbo Usman.
Senate also referred Dr. Okpanachi to the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee for appropriate disciplinary action in line with the University’s rules.
In a related development, Senate approved the withdrawal of nine students. Six of them were withdrawn for failure to register for two consecutive semesters. They are Suleiman Salamatul of Social Studies Education; Abdullahi Hossana, Anaja Victor Anome, Emmanuel Arome, Odutola Nancy Oluwanifemi and Olarewaju Segun Abayomi, all of Banking and Finance.
Three others from Communication and Media Studies were withdrawn on grounds of poor academic performance. They are Adam Safiyat, Musa Favour and Umolo John Philip.
The case of Jude Ojoajogwu Itodo of Plant Science and Biotechnology was referred back to the Examination Misconduct Committee for further investigation.
Prof. Usman reaffirmed the commitment of the University Management to upholding academic excellence, discipline and quality assurance. He commended the committees for their thorough investigations and urged students to remain focused and comply fully with academic and examination regulations.
The statement added that the affected students have been directed to surrender all University property in their possession, including identity cards, to the appropriate authorities before exiting the University.
