ABSU regains access to TETFund grants, restores accreditation for eight programmes

The Vice-Chancellor of Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), Prof. Ndukwe Okeudo, has announced that the institution has regained full access to Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention grants after resolving issues that previously led to its suspension.

Okeudo disclosed this during a pre-convocation press briefing held at the university’s main campus in Uturu as part of activities marking the combined 30th, 31st and 32nd convocation ceremonies.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, the university can now access TETFund-sponsored Institution-Based Research (IBR) grants, sponsorship for local and international conferences, as well as funding for academic staff training and development.

He also revealed that eight academic programmes that had earlier lost accreditation have now regained full accreditation, including engineering programmes which received professional accreditation from the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

Okeudo added that the university is expecting the National Universities Commission (NUC) visitation report for the accreditation of six other programmes, including Pharmacy, Civil Engineering, Food Science and Technology, and Education.

The Vice-Chancellor explained that before he assumed office on November 1, 2024, the institution had been barred from accessing TETFund intervention funds due to its failure to retire grants received since the inception of the programme.

“Through hard work, due diligence and proper guidance of the staff, we were able to clear all outstanding retirements and regain access to the funds,” he said.

He disclosed that TETFund had already approved 33 Institution-Based Research proposals for the university, with the first tranche of 60 per cent released to lead researchers who have commenced their projects.

Okeudo further noted that a fresh call for research proposals had been publicised, with the university expecting approval for more than 45 additional proposals.

According to him, the institution has also submitted the names of 100 staff members, both academic and non-academic, to TETFund for sponsorship to attend local and international conferences, while nine academic staff have been awarded fully funded PhD scholarships in various Nigerian universities.

The Vice-Chancellor said the university currently operates 16 faculties and 68 departments, including 22 departments under the College of Medicine, across its Uturu main campus as well as the Umuahia and Aba campuses.

He also announced that the university’s newly created Faculty of Computing and Cybernetic Sciences has been presented to the NUC for resource verification. The faculty comprises departments such as Computer Science, Information and Communication Technology, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics.

On student enrolment, Okeudo said the number of students has continued to increase, rising from 4,756 in the 2023/2024 academic session to 6,512 in 2024/2025 and 7,509 in the current 2025/2026 session.

He commended the Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, who is also the Visitor to the university, for his support and commitment to the institution since assuming office.

The Vice-Chancellor listed ongoing infrastructure projects on the campus to include separate hostel complexes for male and female students, lecture halls for the Faculties of Law, Medicine and Agriculture, access roads, and buildings for the university’s staff school.

He said the governor had transformed the university into a “construction destination” in a bid to reposition the institution.

Okeudo added that staff welfare has also improved through regular promotions, prompt payment of salaries by the 28th of every month, and the provision of a conducive environment for teaching and learning.

He revealed that some members of staff benefited from double promotions during the period under review.

Responding to questions from journalists, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed that the university’s staff school in Aba has now been integrated into the mainstream administrative structure of the institution after operating independently for about 10 years.

He noted that teachers in the school would now have their salaries properly structured and paid accordingly.

On the relocation of the Faculties of Law and Agriculture from the Umudike campus to the university’s main campus in Uturu, Okeudo said the move would be gradual once ongoing construction of buildings for the faculties is completed and the environment made conducive for academic activities.