The Bauchi State Ministry for Local Government and the governing board of Malikiyya College of Health and Social Sciences Bauchi are at loggerheads over non-payment of the tuition fees of 1000 students sponsored by the ministry from the 20 local government areas of the state.
The proprietor of the school, Alhaji Aminu Mohammed has accused the government of refusing to pay N200 million, the tuition fees of the 1,000 students it is sponsoring in the school.
He told North East Trust that the students were earlier stopped from attending lectures until the fees were paid but had to rescind the decision following the intervention of a prominent scholar, who promised to mediate in the issue.
He denied the allegation by the Commissioner for Local Government that most of the courses being offered by the institution have not been accredited by the relevant regulatory bodies.
He said the bodies have accredited all the 13 courses being offered by the college.
He said the first set of students that graduated from the school passed all their external examinations conducted by the federal government’s regulatory bodies.
Alhaji Aminu, who is the Chairman Bauchi State Committee on Public Private Partnership, which is saddled with the responsibility of the establishment of health institutions in the state, said the school was opened three years ago on the request of the state government to reduce the shortage of manpower in hospitals and health institutions.
He alleged that the refusal to pay the school fees was politically motivated because he does not belong to the same party with those in government.
The Commissioner for Local Government, Abdulrazak Nuhu Zaki, however, told North East Trust that the government refused to settle the fees because the school was not fully accredited.
Zaki said: “As a responsible government we pledged to use the public resources judiciously. We know the college is not accredited how can we pay money to a body that is not recognised by the regulatory agencies.”
The commissioner, who claimed that he has two children who are students in the school, said government has recognised public institutions like College of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Health Technology, among others.
He reiterated the commitment of the government to support genuine and fully registered institutions for the development of the state.
