The management of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University has noted with grave concern, a publication by an online medium, The Premium Times, on Saturday, 21st June, 2025, in it, the name of the University was implicated.

The story alleged that the University was at the verge of issuing out illegal Postgraduate certificates to students of one of its affiliate Colleges, the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology (FCAHPT), Vom against the National Universities Commission rules and regulations. 

Indeed, the College in question is one of the seven institutions in affiliation with the University and has sought to run both Postgraduate and undergraduate programmes under the Faculty of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology of the University, which was forwarded to the NUC for approval. The NUC approved the undergraduate programme and denied the Postgragraduate request, hence, the University Senate declined to approve thee Postgraduate request which was duly communicated to the College. 

The story alleged that the University now, in an illegal plan, has finalized to award certificates to the Postgraduate students of the College which is in violation of the NUC rules. We are highly diappointed in this publication for the fact that the representative of this medium has contacted our Public Relations Directorate where he was categrically informed that the University has no intention to, and will not award illegal certificates to any students of its affiliated institutions. It has never done that before and will not start now. 

It is therefore, expected that the reporter will discredit any false or wrong information at his disposal but went ahead and fed his editors with the wrong information, downplaying the information freely supplied to him on behalf of the management of the University. 

The ATBU is a Federal University with high record and regard for academic excellence. In its more than four decades of existence, it has carved for itself a reputation for discipline and upholding high academic standard. It has no intention to compromise these standards and will not allow anyone or any institution to rubbish its hard earned record of excellence. 

It is therefore, regrettable that Premium Times will cross the line of good journalism ethics and publish a story intended to directly bruise the good name of the University. We therefore, want to assure our various stakeholders that ATBU will continue to stay firm in the pursuit of quality and legally acquired education and will not be deterred from its focus of attaining a World class University status for the benefit of the teeming Youth of Nigeria and elsewhere who aspire to pass through it.