Civil Society Organisations, Movement for Better Nation (MBN) and Good Governance Campaigners Network (GGCN) have dismissed allegations of corruption and underperformance against the Provost of Federal Cooperative College Oji River, Enugu State (FCCO), Dr. Jude Ejikeme Obidiegwu, following investigations.
The groups launched an inquiry after a report had mentioned the college in a project duplication allegation. The investigation involved a fact-finding visit to the institution and all the project sites linked to the report.
In a joint statement made available to newsmen, Saturday in Enugu, by the Coordinator of the two civil society groups, Comrade Emmanuel Ailemen, revealed that facts on the ground gave a clean bill of health on Dr. Obidiegwu as the mentioning of his name and FCCO in projects duplication were “absolute misinformation”, rather they are ongoing Constituency Projects.
Ailemen disclosed that given the empirical evidence on the ground, the CSOs passed a vote of confidence on Dr. Obidiegwu, noting that beyond the emergence of facts exonerating him and the institute from contract fraud, he has transformed FCCO from being a school without basic facilities for learning, training and development to an institution with the right atmosphere for academic excellence and capacity building.
The group further stated that the kind of transformation FCCO has undergone under the current Provost aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, while urging the general public to disregard all allegations linking Dr. Obidiegwu to corruption or underperformance, but rather dwell on facts on the ground.
“At first, our attention was drawn to the allegation of project duplication in which the Federal Cooperative College Oji River, under the leadership of Dr. Obidiegwu, was mentioned. However, from our findings, we can confirm that the allegation is an absolute falsehood and misinformation.
“We also uncovered that projects FCCO was mentioned were awarded to communities in Akwa Ibom State; rather, the projects are Constituency projects and are at various completion stages.
“It is worthy of note that none of the projects were located in Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, Enugu State. The Provost of the college mentioned in the project duplication allegations was an act of misinformation.
“It is evident that the college name was erroneously written as a benefactor in the Akwa Ibom Constituency projects.”
On the performance of FCCO under the Dr Obidiegwu-led leadership, the CSOs praised the Provost for spearheading infrastructural development in the college after one year of being in charge.
“We can attest from what we saw on the ground that under Dr. Jude Ejikeme Obidiegwu’s transformational leadership shot the College shot into the limelight as a better alternative to prospective candidates seeking admission into a credible tertiary institution, despite taking over the mantle of leadership of the Institution just a year ago.
“No doubt, the ongoing reforms driven by Dr. Obidiegwu have increased and given the College a comparative advantage over contemporaries over others in the country.
“We encourage Dr. Obidiegwu to keep up with the good work, he must not be deterred or distracted by criticism from naysayers. We declare our support for his leadership.
“Dr Obidiegwu has our vote of confidence, and we urge him not to pay attention to baseless allegations orchestrated by enemies of progress,” the statement added.