Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi has refuted the authenticity of a story attributed to the National Universities Commission (NUC) concerning the uncovering of around 100 fake professors in Nigerian universities, terming it as baseless and an attempt to tarnish the institution’s reputation.
Zailani Bappah, the University’s Director of Information and Public Relations, issued a press release on Saturday, denouncing the story as pure fiction and a potential effort to besmirch the University’s esteemed standing.
The release said that the story alleged that seven among the alleged 100 fake professors were staff members of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi.
However, ATBU firmly stated that none of these named individuals has ever been associated with the university or held any interaction with it in any capacity.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the management is drawn to a certain story going the rounds on social media and some online media attributing to the National Universities Commission (NUC) that it has uncovered about 100 fake Professors in some Nigerian Universities.
“While the authenticity of this story itself remains in great doubt, the management of ATBU wishes to categorically state that none of the mentioned Professors is a staff of the University, nor have interacted with the University at any given time in whatever capacity.
“In view of the above, all our esteemed stakeholders are hereby advised to disregard this blatant untruth as it is a mere fiction and an imaginary act; a possible attempt to smear the hard earned reputation of our university.”
The statement further advises stakeholders to disregard the blatant untruth as it is a mere fiction and an imaginary act; a possible attempt to smear the hard earned reputation of the university.