Abia College Controversy: Alumni petition over management’s violation of lawmakers’ orders

An association of alumni of the Government College Umuahia (GCU) in Abia State and an indigene of one of the college’s host communities have separately petitioned the Abia House of Assembly over alleged violation of the assembly’s orders by the college management.

The association, Government College Umuahia Old Boys Association (GCUOBA), addressed the petition to the chairpersons of the joint committee on Education, Public Petitions and Judiciary of the Abia assembly.

The petition was jointly signed by the National President of the GCUOBA, Chinedum Ahaiwe and its National Secretary, Nkem Egbuta, a lawyer.

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, the State Commissioner for Basic & Secondary Education, Goodluck Ubochi and the Attorney-General of the state, Ikechukwu Uwanna, were copied in the petition dated 23 June 2025.

Some principal officers of the House, including the Speaker, Emmanuel Emneruwa, and Clerk of the House, JohnPedro Irokansi, were equally copied in the petition.

The second petitioner, Chukwudi Onwudinanti, is an indigene of Emede Community, one of the college’s host communities.

Also an alumnus of the college, Mr Onwudinanti’s petition dated 23 June 2025 was addressed to the Speaker of the assembly, Mr Emeruwa.

Other principal officers of the House were equally copied in the petition.

The petitions

The GCUOBA, in the petition, accused the Fisher Educational Development Trust (FEDT) of acting in violation of the assembly’s orders regarding the matter.

FEDT is a body which reportedly claims it was set up by the GCUOBA to manage the college.

The GCUOBA recalled that the joint committee on the assembly had, while investigating controversies in the college, restrained FEDT from continuing with the process of replacing the outgoing FEDT Board of Trustees (BOT) members and from any further alleged demolition of buildings in the college.

The association also recalled that the committee, on 4 June 2025, further restrained both GCUOBA and FEDT from taking further steps in their plans to inaugurate parallel FEDT BOTs of the college.

“We are compelled to bring to your studied attention, recent untoward happenings in this continuing saga.

“Whereas the GCUOBA had, out of deep respect for constituted authorities as epitomised by the House, suspended its planned, well publicised inauguration of the FEDT Board scheduled for 14th of June 2025, the FEDT in contradistinction, has defiantly continued its transition/inauguration plans, widely announcing, just last Thursday, 17th of June 2025, the conclusion of its nomination process, preparatory to inaugurating its parallel, illegitimate new Board,” the association said in the petition.

It argued that the “FEDT’s egregious irreverence” was not only indicative of its “derision” of the state assembly but also of “its scant regard” for Governor Otti’s office and the entire Abia State Government.

“As a responsible, law-abiding association, fully conscious that your referenced injunctive orders were geared at preserving the peace, we feel obligated to bring this festering, unsavoury development to your attention, for your necessary action,” it stated.

In the second petition, Mr Onwudinanti, through his lawyer, Ugochukwu Zik, told the assembly that the FEDT, in disobedience to the stay-action notice by the House, has now published an undated letter announcing the new trustees.

“We write to formally inform your good office of this desecration of the House order and to call them to order,” he said.

The indigene said there was an imminent threat to a total breakdown of law and order by the action of the FEDT.

“Many old boys are boiling and the indigenes are imminently being pushed to take laws into their hands.

“However, the petitioner believes in the capacity of the Abia Assembly and the Abia State Government to bring sanity to the whole situation by ensuring that these vested interests amongst the old boys do not clandestinely impose themselves over a public asset; that is, Government College Umuahia.”

Stay-action notice, FEDT’s violation

PREMIUM TIMES has obtained a copy of the stay-action notice issued by the joint committee of the state assembly.

In the notice, dated 4 June 2025 and signed by Co-Chairperson of the joint committee, Uchenna Okoro Kalu, the assembly mandated both GCUOBA and FEDT to stay-action on their plans to inaugurate parallel FEDT Boards of the GCU.

“Disobedience to this notice will be regarded as insubordination to the House and will attract severe penalties,” the notice had warned.

This newspaper also obtained a copy of the undated letter from the FEDT, announcing its new trustees for the GCU in violation of the assembly’s orders.

The letter was titled: Introducing the New Trustees of Fisher Educational Development Trust.

It was signed by the Chairperson of FEDT’s BOT, Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former governor of Old Enugu State.

“You may recall that towards the end of last year, we intimated you of the commencement of a transition process that will lead to the birthing of a new Board of Trustees to take over from the pioneer Board.

“A credible, professional and transparent process was then designed to enable the search across the Old Boy community. The search was painstaking and thorough. That process has now come to an end,” the letter read in part.

The letter said the FEDT also sought and obtained from the Abia State Government two of its representatives in the new FEDT Board to make it an eight-member board.

The nominees were a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority, Uche Orji, a former Group Managing Director of First Bank Holdings, U.K. Eke and a former President of GCUOBA in the US, Godswill Okoji, a medical doctor.

Others are Sebb Ibezim and Angle Ebizie.

The two other members of the new board said to be representing the Abia State Government were the Senior Special Assistant to Mr Otti on Planning and Monitoring, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, and the General Manager of Umuahia Capital Development Authority, Kingsley Agomoh.

Why we ignored Abia Assembly’s order- FEDT speaks

When contacted on Wednesday evening, the Chairperson of the FEDT’s BOT, Mr Nwodo, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that he signed the publication.

The chairperson said although they received the stay-action directive from Abia State Assembly, Governor Otti gave FEDT the nod to go ahead with the inauguration of the board.

He said FEDT members were being governed by the group’s constitution and a Deed of Trust it entered into with the Abia State Government.

“In all fairness, we subjected ourselves to the mediation of the Abia State House of Assembly as law-abiding citizens who mean well for our alma mater (GCU).

“I am a former governor (of old Enugu State). And I know that the House of assembly of a state when they pass a resolution, they send it to the Executive (Arm of government). And it is the Executive that has the power to execute it,” Mr Nwodo said.

“In this (GCU) case, the Executive signed the Deed of Trust with us. Everything we’re doing, the Executive is aware.”

PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Nwodo if Governor Otti specifically asked the FEDT to go ahead with inauguration of new BOT members even with the Abia Assembly’s stay-action directive.

“He (Mr Otti) said we should go ahead with what we’re doing as long as we’re working within our constitution,” he responded.

When contacted on Wednesday night, Ukoha Njoku, the spokesperson to Mr Otti, said the governor was in support of “whatever” the FEDT has done given that they were set up by the GCUOBA to manage the GCU.

Asked to specifically confirm if Mr Otti gave his nod to the FEDT for the inauguration, Mr Ukoha claimed that the governor respects every decision taken by the board and does not need to specifically authorise the inauguration, considering that the FEDT was properly and legally constituted by the GCUOBA.

The spokesperson was silent on whether the governor’s support for the inauguration of the new Board conflicted with the directives of the state assembly.

Background

On 17 February, Mr Onwudinanti, petitioned the assembly over alleged “disguised takeover and mismanagement” of the college.

Mr Onwudinanti, in the petition which was read at the assembly chamber on 25 February, claimed that GCUOBA, which currently manages the college, was running the institution contrary to its original purpose.

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He said the Abia State Government handed over the college to the GCUOBA in July 2014 after signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

The petitioner claimed that after a few years, the GCUOBA started running the school contrary to the purpose for which it was handed over to them by the state government.

Mr Onwudinanti alleged that the managers of the school have turned it into a “private enterprise” like a bourgeois school and cannot be accessible to average families of brilliant children within his constituency.

In March, the assembly launched an investigation into the allegations and invited the parties being invited as part of the ongoing investigations.