The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, is currently enmeshed in an admission scandal, where five admission seekers have accused the institution of withdrawing the opportunities earlier offered them for the full time Higher National Diploma (HND) programme for the 2019/2020 academic session.
The affected students, Ojo Mathew Adedayo, Olamiposi Fatola, Kayode Fowowe, Bakare Sakirat Bolanle and Abdulrahmon Afisat, in a petition, a copy of which was made available to The Point, alleged that they had started registration processes before their departments informed them that their admissions had been terminated.
Copies of admission letters issued by The Federal Polytechnic, Offa and signed by its Registrar, Alhaji A. O. Raji Ojo on October 10, 2019 indicated that Mathew Adedayo was offered provisional admission to study Banking and Finance; Olamiposi Fatola was offered Mechanical Engineering and Kayode Fowowe (Power and Plant).
Bakare Sakirat Bolanle and Abdulrahmon Afisat were offered Library and Information Science.
The candidates, who are National Diploma graduates of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, claimed that they were screened by the management, wrote examinations and submitted necessary results and credentials to the Admission Office of the institution before they were offered admissions.
They stated in their petition, “When we obtained HND forms from the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, we were asked to upload all our credentials to school portal. They asked us to come for screening and they verified everything. They offered us admission and we resumed school in November for academic activities, but during registration at our various departments, we were told that we should go to the Admission Office to see the admission officer.
“When we asked what the issue was, we were told that our admissions had been terminated. We asked the admission officer the reason; they said, our admission was offered in error.
“We suspect that some officers in the institution sold out our admissions to other seekers. This is a pure fraud and we can’t take it. When we approached the admission officer for the refund of the fees we have paid so far, we were informed that the fees were nonrefundable.
“This is a breach of contract and we seek justice. We suspect fraud because our admissions were communicated to us through the school portal and through writing, copies of which we have, but when they terminated our admissions, there was no written document. We were just told orally. We have spent over N200,000 on this admissions of which we have evidence for.”
The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Yinka Iroye, did not pick calls made by our correspondent to his phone. He did not also respond to text messages sent to him.
Also, the institution’s Deputy Rector (Academics), Dr. Afolabi, did not pick his calls.
