The Abia State Government has ordered the cancellation of the recent Preliminary Test Sessions (PTS) examinations into Nursing schools in the state over alleged irregularities in the admission process by some individuals involved in the conduct of the examination.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu announced the cancellation while briefing Journalists on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council Meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.
Mr Okey Kanu
National Ambassador recalls that Students from FMC Umuahia’s School of Nursing and the School of Nursing in Amachara recently organized a protest, accusing the school managements of bribery, corruption, and irregularities in the admission process for state government owned nursing schools.
The Information Commissioner also revealed that a committee has been established to further investigate the matter, emphasizing that no one has been indicted or arrested yet.
He said; “Inorder to ensure transparency in all it’s activities, the state government has ordered the cancellation of the last nursing exams. This was based on allegations of wrongdoings leveled against some individuals.
“As a responsive government, a committee was set up and the preliminary report of that committee is that the exam be cancelled while investigations continue.
“But be rest assured that very soon, there will be another exams to ensure that all the issues associated with the problem are put right”.
In terms of road infrastructure, the Commissioner stated that alot of rehabilitation efforts are ongoing in Aba, Umuahia, and other parts of the state including patching and maintenance work.
The Commissioner while noting that substantial progress have been made on the Port Harcourt road in Aba,said the expectation is for the contractor to complete at least one lane of the express before Christmas.
He said that the state government in a bid to enhance governance and ease of business processes aims to issue Certificates of Occupancy within a 30 days cycle and added that “As time goes on, government will try to ensure that the transaction time for the application of a C of O is reduced”.
Also speaking on the cancellation of the recent PTS exams by the state government,the Principal Secretary and Chief Strategist to the Governor, Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, highlighted that the committee set up to investigate allegations of wrongdoings engaged with critical stakeholders, including students and vendors.
Mr Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu
He said that investigation aims to uncover what went wrong and how to rectify it and ensure public confidence of the people in the system.
Contributing,the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, emphasized that the government’s actions align with the Governor’s campaign promise to sanitize the system and ssured that the present administration will persist in addressing issues left by the previous administration.
