Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has ordered the immediate removal of “pandemic prevention fee” from school fees of Abia State University.
This comes after many Nigerians including students of the institution called out the university for demanding compulsory payment of “pandemic prevention fee” upon resumption of academic activities on Monday, November 9.
The Governor has now given a new directive during a Town Hall meeting with students and management of the school on Thursday November 5.
He added that his government will pay N30,000 to each Abia student in the institution as further support to them and their parents/guardians.
Ikpeazu said;
Yesterday, I had a Town Hall meeting with students and management of Abia State University where a fee of N25,000 per student was proposed as a medical fee but slashed to N15,000 to help ABSU put in place adequate measures to protect the soon to resume students from COVID-19 pandemic.
In that same meeting, I approved immediate bursary payment to students of Abia origin in ABSU, to alleviate impact of COVID-19 on them & enable them meet the medical fee obligations with ease.
He stated;
However, after a deep review of the agreement & its likely effect on all the students & their parents, I’ve directed the immediate scrapping of the “pandemic prevention fee” by school management.
Our government will now go ahead to pay N30,000 to each Abia student in the institution as further support to them, their parents and guardians in this very difficult moment of economic downturn caused by the global health crisis.
Ikpeazu noted;
Let me also add that we are proud of the progress made by the institution in the past 5 years and will continue to support them.
