EFCC probes VCs over inflated contracts, students’ fees diversion

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raised concern over a prevailing financial impropriety in Nigerian universities, already placing several tertiary institutions’ top management under criminal investigation.

 

The anti-graft agency also lamented that about six out of every 10 students in Nigerian universities are involved in cybercrime.

Specifically, the commission disclosed that certain Vice Chancellors from public and private universities were under investigation for alleged inflation of contracts, diversion of students’ registration fees and other related financial impropriety.

Chairman of EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede, revealed this yesterday at the opening of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities of Nigeria in Kano.

Olukoyede asserted that university authorities entrusted with the management of multi-billion-naira budgets in tuition fees and other internally-generated revenues were not immune to accountability issues.

He stressed that the pervasive cases in the tertiary institutions were not only a loss of public funds, but a betrayal of trust of Nigerian parents, students, taxpayers and governments placed in the university system.

“The EFCC has investigated cases involving inflated contracts, ghost workers and diverted student fees in tertiary institutions across the country. As a matter of fact, just this last week, I had a call to file a charge against a vice chancellor who just left the system,” Olukoyede emphasised.

At the conference with the theme, ‘Unlocking the Potentials of Artificial Intelligence: University Governance, Internationalisation and Rankings’, the snti-graft czar the cybercrime trend as “a sad development”.

He said findings from investigations and field operations by the commission revealed widespread involvement of undergraduates in internet fraud and related crimes.

“My research in the last year has shown that about six out of 10 students in our universities are into cybercrime. It is a very disturbing situation,” he said.

Disclosing that many of those arrested in recent cybercrime operations were students, adding that some had allegedly compromised the integrity of the academic system by placing lecturers on their payroll.

According to him, the situation reflects deeper systemic challenges, including weak oversight and vulnerabilities within university administration.

Olukoyede also cited a major operation in Lagos where 792 suspects linked to a transnational cybercrime syndicate were arrested, noting that a significant number of them were students.

He said the operation, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, exposed the scale and sophistication of cybercrime networks operating within and beyond Nigeria.