The attention of the public is hereby drawn to a false and misleading publication alleging that ₦76.84 million was involved in financial irregularities at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State, during the administration of the immediate past Provost, Prof. (Mrs.) Josephine E.
Anene-Okeakwa. The allegation is not only unsubstantiated; the purported ₦76.84 million figure never existed as alleged.
There was no ₦76.84 million pool of questionable funds, no evidence that such an amount was misappropriated by Prof.
Anene-Okeakwa, and no credible documentary evidence establishing that the former Provost personally benefited from any such sum. If such a substantial sum genuinely existed as an irregular or misappropriated fund, the publisher should produce the original audit report, the relevant payment vouchers, bank statements, schedules of transactions, audit queries, responses from the affected officers and any official finding establishing liability.
The attempt to attach the ₦76.84 million figure to Prof. Anene-Okeakwa is particularly disturbing because the allegation gives the impression that the former Provost personally presided over or benefited from the purported financial irregularities. Prof. Anene-Okeakwa was the Provost and Chief Executive of the College. Institutional transactions inevitably passed through established administrative, accounting and financial-control procedures involving various officers and statutory processes.
To convert a collection of alleged accounting issues into a single sensational ₦76.84 million figure and then associate that figure with the personal integrity of the Provost is not responsible journalism.
A public institution’s expenditure cannot automatically be described as the personal financial liability of its chief executive.
More importantly, where the ₦76.84 million itself is fictitious, the entire narrative collapses.
Seven years of measurable achievements
The attempt to smear Prof. Anene-Okeakwa also ignores the substantial record of achievement during her seven-year tenure from 2019 to 2026. Under her leadership, the College recorded significant developments in academic accreditation, staff advancement, staff training and development, infrastructure, industrial relations, student engagement and institutional discipline.
The College successfully underwent accreditation exercises covering 27 academic programmes, with the administration mobilising available resources despite financial constraints. Its degree programmes affiliated with the University of Benin also received accreditation from the National Universities Commission.
Staff promotion without victimisation
Staff promotion was another area in which the administration maintained a transparent approach. Staff who satisfied the requisite conditions for promotion were promoted, while the administration maintains that no staff member was deliberately victimised or denied promotion. Significantly, the administration recorded no known petitions arising from the promotion exercise during the period under review.
This record is inconsistent with an administration supposedly characterised by arbitrary financial and administrative practices.
Massive investment in staff development
Prof. Anene-Okeakwa’s administration also placed considerable emphasis on human-capital development. According to the administration’s records, 159 staff members benefited from TETFund postgraduate sponsorship, comprising:
· 5 PhD beneficiaries under foreign sponsorship;
· 80 PhD beneficiaries under local sponsorship;
· 4 Master’s beneficiaries under foreign sponsorship; and
· 70 Master’s beneficiaries under local sponsorship.
Another 350 staff members benefited from conference sponsorship, comprising 16 foreign and 334 local conference beneficiaries.
In addition, 668 staff members benefited from research-development intervention, while 23 benefited from manuscript-development support.
These interventions represent investment in people and institutional capacity—not evidence of an administration bent on diverting public resources.
Industrial harmony and open-door administration
Prof. Anene-Okeakwa’s administration also maintained cordial relations with the major staff unions, including COEASU, SSUCOEN and NASU. Through regular engagement and an open-door policy, the administration maintained industrial peace and harmony, with the College’s academic activities continuing without major disruption attributable to industrial disputes.
The same approach extended to students. The Students’ Union Government and the Nigerian Universities Education Students Association were engaged by management in an effort to ensure that students remained informed and involved in matters affecting them. Town Hall meetings, consultations and other feedback mechanisms were also introduced to make the administration more accessible to staff and students.
The infrastructure is visible evidence
Perhaps the clearest rebuttal to the smear campaign is the physical transformation of the College during the period.
Among the major projects attracted or executed during the administration were:
1. Construction of a Classroom Building for Primary Education;
2. Renovation of the 350-capacity Lecture Theatre for the School of Science;
3. Rehabilitation of the Business Education Auditorium;
4. Rehabilitation of five classrooms for the School of Science Education;
5. Construction of a Gate House, perimeter fence and landscaping works;
6. Construction of a Generator House and associated facilities;
7. Construction and furnishing of the Early Grade Reading Resources Centre;
8. Renovation of the 250-capacity School of Technical Education Mini Hall;
9. Construction of the Home Economics Complex;
10. Construction of the Home Economics Annex Building;
11. Construction of the Academic Staff Office Complex;
12. Construction of the ICT Centre;
13. Construction and renovation of the College entrance gate;
14. Construction of the Home Economics Practicum Centre;
15. Construction and furnishing of male and female student hostels;
16. Renovation of ETF III Hostel;
17. Rehabilitation of classrooms for the School of Technical Education;
18. Rehabilitation and remodelling of the Fine Art Department;
19. Remodelling of the Academic Staff Office Building for the Degree Unit;
20. Remodelling of the Administrative Building for the School of Business Education; and
21. Rehabilitation and remodelling of the Professional Diploma in Education Lecture Hall.
Other capital interventions included electrification works, staff-canteen construction, development of a new master plan for the permanent site, waterworks and reticulation, additional hostel accommodation and construction of a one-storey female students’ hostel. There were also revitalisation interventions in technical workshops and facilities, while the College benefited from support for flood-control infrastructure and the rehabilitation of its internal road network.
These are tangible projects that can be inspected and verified. A smear cannot erase a verifiable record.
The burden of proof rests squarely with those making the allegation. If ₦76.84 million existed as alleged, let them produce the evidence.
Let them identify:
· the bank account from which the money was allegedly paid;
· the dates of the transactions;
· the individual beneficiaries;
· the payment vouchers;
· the approval documents;
· the audit report in which the figure appears;
· the names of the accounting officers held responsible;
· the evidence linking Prof. Anene-Okeakwa personally to the alleged loss; and
· any official finding by a competent government or anti-corruption authority establishing wrongdoing.
If none of these can be produced, then the ₦76.84 million allegation should be withdrawn.
The public deserves truth, not character assassination
Prof. Anene-Okeakwa’s is always available to scrutiny. Public officers are not above accountability. A fabricated financial figure cannot be transformed into truth merely because it is repeated in print or online.
The former Provost’s record should be judged by verifiable facts: academic accreditation, staff development, promotion, infrastructure, industrial harmony, student engagement, discipline and institutional development.
The College community witnessed these developments. The buildings remain. The beneficiaries of staff-development programmes remain. The accredited programmes remain. The staff who received training remain. The students who passed through the institution remain.
These are facts that cannot be erased by a fabricated ₦76.84 million narrative.
The attempt to tarnish the reputation of Prof. Josephine E. Anene-Okeakwa through a financial allegation that has no foundation in the College’s authentic records is therefore not merely unfair—it is a disservice to the public’s right to accurate information.
The appropriate response is simple:
Produce the ₦76.84 million evidence—or withdraw the allegation.
Until then, the public should treat the claim for what it is: an unsubstantiated narrative that should not be allowed to destroy the hard-earned reputation of a former Provost whose administration left behind a substantial record of academic, human-capital and infrastructural development.