Former Provost Of Fed College Of Education, Asaba Was Not Arraigned For Alleged Corruption, Misappropriation –Group

By Our Reporter

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offence Commission (ICPC) did not arraign the former Provost of Federal College of Education Technical, Asaba, Dr Ignatius Ezoem and some principal officers of the college for corruption and misappropriation at the Federal High Court, Asaba.

The Chairman of Good Governance and Transparency Forum, Franklin Nelson, said this in a release made available to journalists in Asaba.

He added: “We are dishearthened to read a story published on the social media and some online platforms and discovered that it was a calculated attempt by the authors of the publication to tarnish the good image of the former provost, Dr Ignatius Ezoem which he has built for decades.”

The statement continued: “The provost has never in any way been corrupt or found wanting since he assumed and left office as provost of the institution.

“For clarity, Dr Ignatius Ezoem, a highly intelligent, industrious, hardworking, reputable and upright with good track record while in the service of the institution as a provost ensured that everything went well in the College according to the civil service rules.

“With all the positions he held in the institution before his exit, he has never been found wanting in his course of leadership and administration.”

According to the release, he is a disciplinarian who does not tolerate any form of bad behavior and laxity from any staff.”

The group said “it is clear that the authors of the publication are bent on tarnishing the good image built by the provost for years because of his philantrophic gesture.”

The group advised the sponsors of the publication to desist from damaging the image of the former provost, Dr Ignatius Ezoem and make efforts to go to the Federal HighCourt Asaba to find out the true position of the matter, saying that “Dr Ignatius Ezoem never conspired with Mr Ogbechie Linus and Mr Jonas Ifechukwude to use their offices to confer advantage on Monopoly Construction limited by recommending and approving payment of 33,823,333.90k representing 50percent of the contract sum awarded in favour of Monopoly construction Limited.”

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“The approval and payment of the job to the contractor and college handlers were in line with the completion and specifications order.
The college has been using the facilities for over 7 years which the benefactor, Tefund has not accused Dr Ignatius Ezoem and others of awarding a fictitious contracts.

“Also that DR Ezoem and Ogbechie Linus conspired to use their offices to confer corrupt advantage on Egbulem John Paul Nkem by offering employment to Egbulem John Paul when he didn’t possess relevant qualifications for employment into public service of Nigeria for lack of national youth service discharged certificate is not true.
The Egbulem John Paul Nkem in question is qualified by all standard, has all the documents required for the employment including the NYSC discharged certificate,” the statement said.