By Abdullahi Shugaba

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Sokoto Zone, has called on the National Universities Commission (NUC), to investigate alleged frauds by Vice Chancellors (VCs) of some universities across the country.

The ASUU Coordinator of the zone, Malam Jamilu Shehu, in a statement in Katsina on Friday, said that vice chancellors of some universities were defrauding unsuspecting students and parents.

The zone comprises Usumanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Umaru Musa Yaradua University Katsina; and Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero.

Others are Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Katsina State; Federal University, Gusau; and Federal University, Birnin Kebbi.

ASUU said that some VCs were deceiving and defrauding unsuspecting students and parents by pretending to have kept the academic session running, despite the closure of universities by the Federal Government due to Coronavirus.

“We know of some universities where students were mandated to pay for academic gowns in order to participate in online matriculation and graduation ceremonies.

“There were also reports of some VCs involving surrogates and relatives as supervisors of the candidates writting examinations during the lockdown.

“We salute the courage and resoluteness of many VCs who have stood their grounds in preserving the quality of education.

“We however, call on the NUC to investigate these issues with a view to saving the university education from decay,’’ he said.

The union also decried the recent relocation of Federal University Dutsin-ma Katsina from its permanent site to the former take-off campus, due to the insecurity in the North-West.

“It is also embarrassing that two universities in the zone established 10 years ago namely, Federal University, Gusau, and Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, have been operating without Establishment Acts.

“We therefore call on the Federal Government to take urgent and necessary steps to remedy the situation,” Shehu said. (NAN)