Achievers University Uncovers N457.5m Students’ Fees Fraud, 320 Students Indicted

Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, has uncovered a major students’ tuition payment fraud involving N457,508,645 allegedly diverted through the personal account of a former staff member, with 320 students affected across three academic sessions.

The development, which formed part of the findings from a university-led students’ fees payment audit concluded in May 2026, involved alleged fraudulent manipulation of the institution’s students’ payment portal.

The university disclosed the findings in its second bulletin on the matter, issued by the Ag. Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, on May 24, 2026.

According to the university, the alleged fraud was masterminded by Olanike Mary Asabia, an alumnus of the Department of Accounting who was subsequently employed to work at the university bursary. The institution said she resigned from the university in April 2025.

The university said its investigation established that the fraudulent activities affected the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.

It stated that 320 students paid a total of N457,508,645 in school fees into the personal account of Asabia, who allegedly proceeded to clear the affected students on the university’s payment portal without the institution receiving the corresponding payments.

According to the university, some of the students were allegedly encouraged to make payments into the personal account through offers of discounted fees or commissions.

The investigation further implicated 11 members of staff and 34 students, whom the university said were used as agents to recruit students for the alleged fraudulent activities.

An external individual working at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, was also indicted by the university for allegedly serving as an agent in the activities.

The development followed an earlier bulletin issued by the university on April 14, 2026, after the institution discovered what it described as fraudulent hacking of its students’ fees payment portal.

In that earlier notice, the university said some present and former staff members as well as students had allegedly been involved in diverting students’ fee payments into personal accounts while clearing the students’ bills on the university portal.

The university subsequently commenced a comprehensive students’ fees payment audit exercise, requiring students to appear before an investigative committee and provide evidence of payments made into the university’s official accounts.

The audit exercise for current students was concluded on Friday, May 22, 2026.

Following the findings, the university directed the affected students to pay their full fees into the officially designated university accounts, with the usual penalties applicable for late payment of school fees.

The university also announced disciplinary proceedings against the students and staff members implicated in the investigation.

It stated that all 320 affected students, as well as the six students identified as agents, would appear before the Students Disciplinary Committee to explain what motivated them to disregard the university’s established fee payment procedures.

The 11 members of staff allegedly involved as agents were also scheduled to face the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee.

Meanwhile, the university said Asabia was under police investigation for subsequent prosecution.

Achievers University also disclosed that the students’ fees payment audit would continue, with payments made by students who graduated during the previous two academic sessions to be carefully examined.

The university said its Governing Council had approved absolute transparency in the handling of the investigation and dissemination of information to the university community, in order to eliminate rumours and misinformation.

Management subsequently appealed to staff and students to cooperate with the audit and recovery exercise.

The university’s disclosure has brought to light the scale of the alleged fee payment irregularities and the measures being taken to establish the extent of the financial loss, recover funds and address the individuals implicated in the case.