Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Zana Akpagu, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest and prosecute the former Bursar, Mr. Peter Agi over allegations of fraud to the tune of over N200 million.
Akpagu, who spoke through a coalition of non-governmental organisation, Transparency Initiative Nigeria, said the former bursar, who is inexperienced and haughty, had continued to dwindle the fortunes of the institution as well as frustrate infrastructural progression.
The Executive Secretary of the group, Yomi David, said Agi had used his position as bursar to enrich himself and acquire several posh cars, outlandish mansions and choice property across the country and thus called for sterner sanctions to enable the university recover the funds he looted.
David, who was represented by the Media Director of the group, Mr. Solomon Adodo, stated the VC deserves commendation as an internal whistle blower for refusing to cooperate with, or condone the corrupt antics of the erstwhile bursar. He said by the VC’s action, he has portrayed the true essence of the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
“Our diligent findings revealed that UNICAL though a second generation university lagged behind on many fronts and did not even come close to being a shadow of what was expected of her as an institution. The plight of the university was only to be worsened by the appointment of an inexperienced, haughty and avariciously corrupt bursar (in 2010) in the person of Agi who made it an obsession and determined penchant to pitch his personal aggrandisement against the university’s wheels of progress.
“The university groaned in pains, gradually grinded to stagnation and soon hit the path of retardation down the cesspit of oblivion as Agi transmuted into a demigod and Pharaoh of sorts holding staff, students and contractors by the jugular all in a bid to accumulate and divert the university funds into his private coffers. The Agi years can best be described as the dinosaur-locust era as he gave no heed to reason rather than random abuse of university rules, appropriation/procurement processes and relegated transparency to the back seat.”
David added: “To our utter dismay, we further gathered from contractors that Agi was in the habit of sitting on funds approved for payment to contractors- definitely with sinister pecuniary intentions- and this stalled major construction projects which should have further etched the university up the ladder of academic glory and acclaim.”
However, Agi has refuted the allegations, describing them as false and malicious with no iota of truth. He said the reverse is the case as he was able to uncover ongoing fraud to the tune of N225 million in just about a month, and has his documented facts with figures.
The 42-year-old who is challenging his recent termination of appointment at the industrial court, said for the short period he monitored illegitimate accounts opened by a consultant at the initiative of the VC, he could only account for outflows and not inflows, which is professionally unethical.
“I am supposed to be responsible for the collection of school fees and this is to be rooted through the office of the bursar. When I assumed office, I met a situation whereby there was a consultant on ground reporting directly to the VC. There was no information about collections and the VC was making approvals that I couldn’t trace inflows but I was managing outflows. The approvals were so much and I had to investigate to find out why the inflow was not commensurate with the outflow.”
“In the process, I uncovered fraud in the portal where they created miscellaneous accounts that were taking monies to the private accounts of the consultant and I discovered immediately that it was shared by the stakeholders. It got to a time when I told them to stop and when they refused, we agreed to migrate to a new portal. Suddenly, they said the portal should not go on and so went back to the previous one.
“For that short time that we migrated to a new portal, an amount of N225 million was collected and the money is accountable. The records and the number of students that paid are here. That is the money they are saying I defrauded the school of.”
Agi, who stated that his travails are being orchestrated by the VC to take him out of the university, said he had been invited three times by the EFCC in Port Harcourt at the instance of the VC and after his explanation at the anti-graft agency, he was asked to go.
He also said when the police was harassing him unnecessarily, he went to court and asked for a restraining order and it was granted.
