UniAbuja debunks claim of extorting graduating students

The University of Abuja (UniAbuja) has dismissed claims that the institution is extorting its students who are registering for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

There were recent rumours on social media that the institution allegedly asked the graduating students to pay illegal clearance fees before enrolling for NYSC.

But in a statement on Wednesday, Habib Yakoob, UniAbuja spokesperson, described the allegation as “baseless”.

Yakoob said such a claim was sponsored by students attempting to skip the required clearance fees and short-change the university.

The spokesperson said the fee is for students whose “names are not on the accepted Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) list”.

“There is nothing illegal about the fees and the University is very clear on this. The students whose names are not on the accepted Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) jamb list must pay such a fee,” he said.

“While some of those students paid, many others do not, often time, in an attempt to short-change the University.

“Though they always thought they had scaled through, at the critical time they need clearance to leave the University, they are made to pay that sum because the verification unit which is in charge of this clearance has all the facts at its disposal.

“And most students are aware of this and are complying. At the moment, more than 80 per cent of the students have paid, leaving just 15 per cent who are expected to pay.”