Kogi State chapter of the Nigerian Youth Congress (NYC) has faulted the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) over allegations of mismanagement of public funds it levied against the administration of the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Lokoja, Prof Angela Freeman Miri.
SERAP had, in a recent statement, called for probe of the VC over alleged financial impropriety running into millions of naira.
But NYC, in a statement issued on Friday by its Secretary General, Comrade Maximilian Emmanuel Tashilani, described the allegations of financial impropriety levied against the Prof Miri-led management as “unsubstantiated, malicious, politically motivated and satanically orchestrated to malign her person.”
According to the group, the “indictment” of the VC by SERAP over issue of financial recklessness “without recourse to any administrative and judicial panel says more of sordid job done to assassinate her character.”
“To many of us that came across the press release from SERAP, it is very glaring to us that the whole story was the figment of the imagination of the writer.
“The whole write up shows lack of coherence and reliable facts on the true financial situation in the institution and falls short of internationally acceptable best practices on investigative journalism.
“SERAP should not allow itself to be used by unscrupulous individuals within and outside the university to achieve their inordinate and wicked ambition.
“SERAP should take its time to confirm and ascertain some of these allegations from the university authority before hitting the public with their false alarm of massive corruption in the university,” the group said.
The NYC said, while it will never support corrupt practices from any quarter as a body, it would not “condone any form of harassment, intimidation and character assassination of any person or institution within the precinct of the state.
It noted that Prof Miri had, over the last four years of her administration, achieved a lot for the university, saying it was not “the right time to destroy her good works.”
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