Mindful of the reaction which the closure of the Borough College London, Igboho Study Centre in Igboho community in Oyo State has generated, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said the institution was shut down following preliminary investigation of a petition that it was running university courses without being duly accredited and licensed by the relevant and appropriate authorities as approved under the law.
A statement signed by Folu Olamiti, Resident Consultant (Media and Event) states that the ICPC, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC), carried out the closure of the institution on Wednesday, March 25 this year as part of their ongoing efforts to sanitise the tertiary education sector in the country.
The college has been running academic programmes since October 2014 and has an enrolment of 200 students. It applied for and got the provisional approval of the Oyo State Ministry of Education in January this year to operate as a Study/Continuing Education Centre of Borough College, London.
The college also applied to the Federal Ministry of Education for evaluation and accreditation as a training institute to operate in Nigeria in collaboration with Universidad Azteca, Mexico which approval the ministry granted also in January this year.
Prof. Ogunleye further proceeded to register Borough College London Limited with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The certificate of incorporation granted by the CAC in February this year indicates that Borough College London, Igboho Study Centre was registered and established to develop and offer academic and professional program-mes leading to the award of diplomas, first degrees, post-graduate research and higher degrees.
As at the time the institution was shut down, it was offering six academic courses in Law, Sciences, Accounting/Marketing, Political Science, Business Administration and Communication without the approval of the NUC which is the statutory regulatory body for such operations. It was also claimed that the college was affiliated to one Concentric University.
In 2006, Prof. Ogunleye had applied to set up the Concentric University in Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State but it was not approved by the NUC. He later secured an allocation of land from Igboho community for the establishment of the hitherto unapproved Concentric University in Bonnie quarters, Igboho.
The ICPC said it has recovered some relevant documents and obtained useful statements from some principal officers of the institution. The proprietor of the college, Prof. James Ogunleye, who resides in London, has sent a written brief to the ICPC, promising to physically honour its invitation.
The ICPC appreciates the desire of the Igboho community to have a higher institution within its reach and its current concern over the closure of the Borough College London, Igboho Study Centre.
The ICPC assures the community that the actions it has taken so far is in the best interest of the community, the students who have paid N70,000 each and other stakeholders in order to ensure compliance with existing laws regulating the establishment of universities.
The ICPC said that as currently constituted, all parties should note that the products are not eligible to serve under the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) scheme or get employed in any public sectorý organisation or attend any approved university for post-graduate studies.
It noted that owners of both Borough College London and Concentric University located at Igboho, have several options open to them.
The ICPC advised that they can either redress any defaults and thereafter resume operations; or seek legal protection of its rights if they believe that they are executing their activities with the approval of applicable state and federal legislation.ý
As a last resort, they can forcibly re-open the instititution and face criminal charges.