By Ado Oyeyemi
Achievers University has uncovered an alleged N457.5 million tuition payment fraud involving a former female employee, several staff members and hundreds of students.
The institution disclosed that a recently concluded Students’ Fees Payment Audit Exercise revealed that 320 students allegedly paid their school fees into the personal bank account of a former bursary staff member instead of the university’s official account.
In a statement released on Monday, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Oyesoji Aremu, said the fraud spanned the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
According to the university, the former employee, said to be an alumna of the institution’s Accounting Department, allegedly manipulated the school’s payment portal and cleared the affected students financially without the university receiving the funds.
The institution explained that the suspect, who reportedly resigned from the university in April 2025, allegedly convinced students to pay into her private account with promises of discounted fees and commission-based incentives.
“The exercise revealed that 320 students paid a total of N457,508,645 into the personal account of the said former worker, who fraudulently cleared them on the university portal despite the university not receiving the money,” the statement noted.
The university management further disclosed that six students allegedly acted as agents in the scheme, while 11 staff members were also implicated for reportedly aiding the operation.
It added that all affected students would appear before the students’ disciplinary committee to explain their roles and why they bypassed the institution’s approved payment procedures.
Similarly, the implicated staff members are expected to face the senior staff disciplinary committee, while the former employee is currently under police investigation ahead of possible prosecution.
The institution stated that the audit exercise would continue, adding that tuition payments made by graduates from the last two academic sessions would also be reviewed.
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The university said it had secured approval from its governing council to ensure transparency in the investigation and prevent misinformation within the academic community.
