From Magnus Eze, Enugu
The management of the University of Nigeria has debunked allegations that the authorities of the institution were involved in admission racketeering.
It said the allegation was far from the truth and negated the transparency pillar upon which the University of Nigeria stands.
The authorities also said they were poised to face the probe by the Nigerian senate, noting that as a premier citadel of learning, the UNN was averse to fraud of any kind.
In welcoming the intervention of the senate on the issue of admission in Nigerian universities, the UNN was upbeat that their involvement will lead to an increase in the quota allotted for admission of candidates into professional courses.
A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Chief Okwun Omeaku, said that the university had always conducted its admissions transparently, complying strictly with the Federal Government’s established criteria of 45% merit, 35% catchment and 20% Educationally Less Developed States (ELDS).
Part of the statement read: “Despite our desire to accommodate more candidates who troop to our institution yearly for admission, we are constrained by the quota assigned to us by regulatory agencies. This is especially so for professional courses like Medicine/Surgery, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Law and Nursing.
“In the 2019 admission exercise, the University of Nigeria recommended more candidates for admission into professional courses than the quota allowed by professional bodies, with the hope that normal attrition would reduce them to the required quota at graduation. Given that JAMB and PUTME performances of candidates who applied for the professional courses were impressive that year, the University management felt that it was necessary to give many of them the chance to prove themselves.
“However, JAMB insisted that we must follow the quota prescribed by the professional bodies by admitting candidates in the following order: Medicine and Surgery 180; Law 220; Nursing 75; Pharmacy 150 and Dentistry 15. We were only allowed to add 10% as discretion.
“Consequently, some of the candidates the university had earlier shortlisted for the regulated courses were asked to apply for other courses.
“Regarding the case with Ekwe Princess Chinyere, the candidate cited by Senator Onyeka Nwebonyi as a victim of alleged admission racketeering at UNN; the candidate applied to study Medicine/Surgery at the University of Nigeria in 2019 and had an average score of 295.
“She did not meet the cut-off mark of her state, Ebonyi State, for that year which was 309, neither did she qualify on catchment area or ELDS.”
“Ekwe Princess Chinyere, together with other candidates in her category, was given an option of accepting related courses. She accepted the option of Medical Laboratory Science, in JAMB CAPS change of course, and our institution recommended her accordingly. She also accepted the offer in our portal and registered her courses at the Department of Medical Laboratory Science.
“What she needed to do was to apply for change of admission letter from JAMB, instead, she enrolled in the “Undisclosed Admission” portal, which is meant for those who were not properly recommended.
“Following the University’s procedure for change of degree, Ekwe Princess Chinyere applied to change her course to Medicine and Surgery in the 2020/2021 session and her application was successful. She is currently a 300 level student in Medicine and Surgery.”
The UNN further states that the it did not impose courses on Ekwe Princess Chinyere or any other candidate, stressing that “University does not indulge in any backhand deals in processing admission for its candidates.”