The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Gusau, Prof. Muazu Abubakar, has dismissed allegations that members of the House of Representatives Committee on University Education demanded N480m to approve federal universities’ 2025 budgets.

In a letter dated January 27 and addressed to the committee’s chairman, Abubakar Fulata, the VC refuted media reports suggesting that lawmakers pressured vice-chancellors to pay N8m each as a condition for approving their allocations.

He noted that the report specifically mentioned a “stubborn vice-chancellor” believed to be him and stated that while he initially intended to ignore the claims, he decided to respond to prevent any misleading narratives from being accepted as fact.

“The attention of the Federal University, Gusau, has been drawn to a trending online report titled Investigation: Nigerian Lawmakers Demand N480 million from Universities to Approve 2025 Budget.

“We categorically state that no member of the university team present at the budget defence was part of the information circulated in the media. We urge you, Mr. Chairman, and your esteemed committee members to disregard this malicious and sensational report, which aims to mislead the public and undermine constructive journalism.”

Abubakar commended the committee for its support, describing the budget defence session as “robust, friendly, and engaging.”

Similarly, Fulata had earlier dismissed the allegations at a press briefing, insisting that they were an attempt to discredit the committee’s efforts to enhance Nigeria’s education sector.

“It is absurd for anyone to suggest that lawmakers demanded even a ‘kobo’ as a precondition for approving budget proposals,” Fulata said, stressing that the report sought to mislead the public about the activities of the committee and the 10th House of Representatives.

In a statement last Wednesday, the spokesman for the House, Akin Rotimi,  described the media report (not by The TheNigerian) as a deliberate attempt to smear lawmakers’ reputation.

Rotimi said, “The 10th House of Representatives is firmly committed to transparency, accountability, and the highest ethical standards in all its legislative activities. These values form the bedrock of our operations. It is, therefore, imperative to address the baseless and sensational allegations in the report, which appear to be part of a deliberate attempt to undermine the integrity of the House and erode public trust in this hallowed institution.”

Denying the media report, the House spokesman said it “lacks any diligent investigative effort as they would want people to believe, and instead, amplifies fabricated narratives by individuals seeking to evade accountability.”

The Borno State Governor, Babangida Zulum, yesterday called on the country’s faith-based universities to produce graduates trained in spirituality and morality.

He said this is necessary to bail Nigeria out of its current moral decadence of corruption and social vices.

Zulum called while delivering the 20th anniversary lecture of the pioneer Islamic faith-based university in Nigeria, the Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State.

He spoke on the theme, ” Two decades of excellence: Al-Hikmah University’s impact on scholarship and educational development in Nigeria.

The governor urged Nigerian youths to imbibe the culture of humility and hard work.

Zulum, who said he was the son of a peasant farmer and a commercial driver who was plying Maiduguri-Okene-Ibadan roads, advised youths to imbibe the culture of respect for parents, sacrifice for humanity and love for hard work.

The governor also said that shortcuts to anything usually end in regret and disaster, adding that “hard work is good, but humility takes you far in life”.

“Hard work is one thing. But humility is the best. When I finished my master’s, I went to my village to go to the farm with my parents. I could have remained in Maiduguri wearing barbarian, but because I have to be obedient to my parents, that is why I am what I am today”, he said.

In his address at the university’s 20th-anniversary dinner/award night, the vice-chancellor, Professor Noah Yusuf, said that the most pressing challenge of the university is inadequate funds.

Yusuf also said that the spiral effect of the funding challenge is the university’s inability to meet some critical needs.

He appealed for support from friends of the university in the construction of hostels to be endowed after the donor’s name, construction of Faculty building, joint construction of classrooms and offices, scholarship grants to indigent students and research funding for academic staff of the university.

Also speaking, the former governor of Katsina State, Alhaji  Aminu Masari, described the founder of Al-Hikmah University, Dr. AbdulRaheem Oladimeji, as a great contributor to quality education in Nigeria.

Masari said Oladimeji has meaningfully impacted Nigerian youths’ lives through his education investment.