Cross River Varsity Responds To Result Tampering Claims

The University of Cross River State has denied allegations of tampering with the original results of graduating students.

The management of the university attributed the reported discrepancies to the ongoing transfer of examination data from an old system to a new one.

Speaking on behalf of the institution yesterday in Calabar during a media briefing, Dr Anderson Etika, director of Examinations and Results, explained that the transition was initiated by university vice chancellor, Prof. Francesca Bassey, when she resumed duty in January last year.

“When she came in, the school was midway through transitioning from the old portal to the new one,” Etika said.

Etika cited challenges in linking data from the old portal to the new system and funding issues with the old portal, which had outstanding liabilities before it was shut down.

“There were also funding issues with the old portal, which had some outstanding liabilities before it was shut down,” he added.

To address these issues, management retrieved hard copies of results from all departments spanning 20 years, totaling over five million records.

“It was a massive task,” Etika said. “To prioritize graduating students, we focused on uploading results from the 2017–2018 to 2022–2023 sessions to the new portal, completing the exercise within two months.”

Etika acknowledged that moving data between different systems could result in minor discrepancies. “Given the scale and complexity of the task, some inconsistencies were bound to occur,” he said.

He stated that in a bid to get the right thing done, management has fired one of the heads of departments and some erring staff in order to restore sanity in the institution.

He however assured that management has nearly corrected all observed discrepancies. “However, management has nearly corrected all observed discrepancies,” he assured.

Etika emphasized that the university is committed to improving result administration. “Now we’ve been able to improve result administration,” he stated.

Also speaking, deputy vice chancellor Academics, Prof. Stella Maris-Okey, who represented the institution vice-chancellor Prof. Francisca Bassey, appealed for public understanding stressing that the current management team has been in place for only six months describing the situation as part of a broader cleanup effort.

“We are here to clear the air… We are on top of the matter,” she stated, acknowledging widespread social media complaints about delayed results and graduations.