Governor of Abia state, Okezie Ikpeazu, has ordered the cancellation of “pandemic prevention fee” from fees students of the Abia State University are expected to pay upon resumption on Monday November 9.
Following the outcry as a result of the fee, the Governor, during a Town Hall meeting with students and management of the school, said his government will, instead, pay N30,000 to each Abia indigene student in the institution as further support to them, their parents and guardians.
“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,” he said.
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“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.
“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.
“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.”
