Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has cancelled the N15,000 COVID-19 prevention fee the Abia State University charged students before they could return to school and sit for their first semester exams.
It was widely reported in the media on Thursday that the university had imposed a N15,000 fee on returning students for COVID-19 prevention.
The governor said, “Yesterday, I had a Town Hall meeting with students & management of Abia State University where a fee of N25,000 per student was proposed as 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.
READ ALSO: Abia University Charges Students N15k For ‘COVID-19 Prevention’
He said, “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.”
The governor said, “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”.
