The Delta State Ministry of Health has commenced the refund of unauthorised fees, running into millions of naira, charged 162 students in the state-owned Colleges of Nursing in the state.
A total of 162 students were affected; 152 from the College of Nursing Asaba comprising Years 1, 2, 3 and PTS class while 10 students were affected in the College of Nursing Sapele.
The state commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaeme, during the refund exercise at the college in Asaba, stated that in response to the complaints of the students and a subsequent careful investigation revealed that certain fees among other fees charged were not authorised.
He added that Governor Oborevwori directed the immediate stoppage of the charges and immediate refund to the affected students.
He said that the governor condemned the practice and has directed that such illegal levies outside the statutorily approved payments should be immediately refunded to the affected students.
Onojaeme said the gesture was a result of the concern of the governor that parents and students were not to be financially overburdened, especially during this period of economic difficulty arising from the current inflation trend in the country.
The president of the Student Union Government (SUG), College of Nursing Asaba, Oghenekevwe Asakpa, in the company of the union’s executive, expressed gratitude to the Governor Oborevwori-led administration for giving them a listening ear as regards their earlier complaints on the illegal levies and approving its stoppage.
She praised the efforts of the health commissioner, the director of Nursing Services in the Ministry and others who contributed to the realisation of the stoppage of the illegal levies and the refund of the monies to all the affected students.
