By Chuks Eke
A major financier and property donor to Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra state, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka has threatened to sell off the university’s moveable and immoveable properties in order to recover about N60 million owed to him by the university management as arrears of debt accrued from his N10 million annual honorarium.
He noted that any moment from now, he would swing into action and levy an execution of a judgement delivered by a court of competent jurisdiction which permitted him to sell off all moveable and immoveable properties of the university to recover the amount owed him by the university authorities.
Ezeonwuka, in his Twitter Handle, stated that he would have levied the execution since he got the court judgement in 2019 but he has been sympathetic and in consideration of what will be the fate of the students of the university if he sells off the university’s moveable and immoveable properties as directed by the court which would lead to automatic closure of the university.
He declared: “however, my patience is gradually running out and very soon, I am going to levy execution of the court order by selling off the university’s properties to recover the debt owed me, as contained in the judgement delivered in 2019 by an Ogidi High Court in Idemili Judicial Division presided over by Justice Arinze Akabua”.
“If I may recall, Justice Akabua had in 2019, granted me a leave, as donor of the landed property at university’s take-off campus, Oba to sell the properties of the university for purposes of recovering the outstanding indebtedness of my honorarium which stood at N18 million as at April, 2018 and has now increased to N60 million at the moment”.
“The court judgement was based on my approach to it, asking it to grant me the leave to dispose off all the properties of the university to recover the amount owed me by the university authorities, which the court granted me then”.
“Justice Akabua’s verdict came on the strength of a consent judgement delivered in 2008 by Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, now the incumbent Chief Judge of Anambra state which stated that I, (Ezeonwuka) is entitled to receive from the university authorities an annual honorarium of N10 million per annum for donating my landed properties with buildings at Oba where I had a factory as a take off site for the university, which has now accumulated to over N60 million till date”.
Ezeonwuka, in the Twitter Handle, further declared: “there is no doubt that from 2019 when the judgement debt stood at N18 million to this 2023, the honorarium indebtedness owed to me by the university authorities must have risen to over N60 million with an additional N10 million per annum from 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023”.
“This honorarium issue came into being at the inception of the University when the National Universities Commission, NUC issued the approval certificate to the university authorities and specifically handed the certificate to me as a major stakeholder with high equity share in the university board”.
“It was even the NUC itself that while handing the certificate over to me, advised that the annual payment due to me for my property be known as annual honorarium and not annual house rent because NUC does not recognize house rentage to approve university status in a rented apartment”.
Ezeonwuka who noted that he owns 81% equity shares of the university because of his landed property worth over N2 billion, revealed that the management of Tansian University has reneged in the payment of honorarium to him as clearly enunciated in the consent judgement issued by the court.
He said the consent judgement clearly stipulated that Tansian University would pay him an annual honorarium for 25 years and thereafter vacate his property at the Oba take-off campus and relocate to their main campus at Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.
He therefore recalled that the said consent judgement was reached in 2010 and the university paid him an annual honorarium up to 2015 and stopped thereafter following the advice which one Rev. Fr. Obiora gave Johnbosco Akam, the founder of the university that he could challenge the consent judgement which Ogidi High Court rejected.
But be that as it may, Ogidi High Court ruled that Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka should sell off the university and recover all the unpaid honorarium accruing to him as contained in the consent judgment since the university has violated the orders of the court by reneging in the payment of the agreed honorarium.
To set the records straight, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka further declared: “I established Tansian University alongside the late Monsignor Prof. Johnbosco Akam and it is in the records of the National Universities Commission, NUC that I am the financier of the university and equally brought in other investors to the university”.
Ezeonwuka said, ” I used my factory, Ranent Industries at Oba to establish the take off campus of the Tansian University. We were given a license to run the university. So eventually John Bosco Akam was playing tricks that his congregation can own the university and tried to scheme me out”.
“We had a court case at Ogidi High Court of which Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) was counsel to Monsignor Akam, while Kpajie Nnamdi Ibegbu (SAN) as my own attorney. I won the case against Monsignor Akam at the court and even when the equity was calibrated, it was discovered that I had 81% because of my contributions and Monsignor Akam had only 13% while other shareholders had some percentages”.
“Dr. Eloka Menakaya and some other persons brought in Umunya land which was not adequately paid for. They now brought in my Ranent Industry property worth over N2 Billion as the take off campus”.
“The NUC told the late Monsignor Akam that if he can not accommodate the equity shares, they will close down the university. So they pleaded that we should settle out of court and we settled out of court while he pays me honorarium for my property”.
“Now, instead of calling it rent; the law establishing a university says a university can not be sited where it is paying rent. So it was classified as an honorarium”.
“Johnbosco Akam will be paying me N10 million every year as an annual honorarium on my propert and I will hands off my property for him and I can increase the amount after five years. After 25 years, he will now get out of my property completely and go to their permanent site at Umunya. That was the agreement we had”.
“We agreed that we shall charge N5,000 sports development levy from the 3,000 students the university had then. Now if 3,000 students pay N5,000 each for a year, it will amount to N150 million and we share it 50-50 which means that what I am supposed to be getting from Tansian University is N75 million plus N10 million annual honorarium which will amount to a total of N85 million per annum. I agreed with that arrangement and then we signed the agreement which was prepared by both Monsignor’s lawyer and mine”.
“Thereafter, we took the agreement to the court and stamped it as a consent judgement. The person who stamped the agreement as an order of the court is the current Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu”.
“Shortly after obtaining the consent judgement, the late Monsignor Akam went and celebrated the agreement at his home town, Uga in Aguata Local Government Area on the ground that I was no longer fighting for the co-ownership of Tansian University and that he was now the sole owner of the university. Out of that enthusiasm, he paid me an honorarium of N10 million for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and stopped paying till date”.
“At this stage, a certain Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Obiorah, a lawyer who returned from the United States of America, USA to Nigeria, decided to reverse the consent judgement on the condition that the university’s meagre resources could no longer cater for my N10 million honorarium”.
“I approached the court again because the university failed to pay me my honorarium and the Court ruled that I should sack them from the University and sell off their property to recover my money”.
“On the other hand, about N14.5 million was indebted to Oba Micro Finance Bank and the said amount was paid to the bank on instruction of Ezeonwuka to enable NUC endorse the approval of the university.
“Oba Microfinance Bank did not sell the property to Johnbosco Akam and as a matter of fact, the property given out was about 25 percent area of the entire Ranent Properties used to host Tansian University”, explained Ezeonwuka.
“Moreover, it was part of the stipulations of the consent judgement that I should hands off the university management while they pay me yearly honorarium but if the judgement is eventually terminated by any other higher court, I would take full ownership of the university because the property rightfully belongs to me”.
“Blames can only go to whoever tried to challenge the consent judgement that settled the war of Tansian university ownership between myself and Monsignor Johnbosco Akam”.
In his comment, Professor Nduka Uraih who was the then Vice Chancellor of Tansian University when the consent judgement was reached, confirmed that the matter was settleded with a 25-year lease, adding that it was actually agreed that a certain sum of money should be paid to Chief Ezeonwuka which became a consent judgement and they all signed it.
Uraih further disclosed that he was the Vice Chancellor on sit when the consent judgement was signed and that he was one of the signatories to it, adding that no one can say or do otherwise because he was a witness and could recall what transpired between Tansian University and Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka vividly.
Also, a former Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols of Tansian University, Mr. Chidi Peters Okorie disclosed that it was true that a consent judgement was reached where the court mandated the university to be paying Ezeonwuka a N10 million honorarium on his property.
Okorie recalled that at inception, Chief Ezeonwuka was the financier, while one Nze Obiora came in as the Director of Physical Planning, just as Monsignor Johnbosco Akam became the initiator, adding that they all went to Abuja to file the first academic planning which had to do with the premises of Ranent Industries at Oba.
According to Okorie, both Ezeonwuka and Johnbosco Akam contributed money to renovate morribund Ranent Industries properties at Oba when the the university’s take off campus was cited, adding that thereafter Oba Microfinance Bank came in and said they were being owed by Ranent Industries and that the property is being encumbered.
NUC according to him said a university can not be established on an encumbered property; so Johnbosco Akam offset the bill owed to Oba Microfinance Bank and the bank gave Johnbosco Akam the entire property and everything about Ranent Industries complex which Akam took to Abuja with the consent of Chief Ezeonwuka and they began the establishment of Tansian University.
Okorie however disclosed that everything turned sour when Ezeonwuka’s property at Oba which was supposed to serve as the take-off campus was expunged from the university’s record and Ezeonwuka, Nze Ralph Obiora, Andy Uba and one other were sidelined; which eventually brought the issue of Johnbosco Akam saying that he bought Ezeonwuka’s property at Oba.
The Tansian University ex-Public Relations Officer said Chief Ezeonwuka filed a court case to make it clear to Johnbosco Akam that they were partners in the business. This according to him, brought in the likes of Chief Eloka Menakaya, Andy Uba and other stakeholders who invested in the university.
He said at a point, Tansian University was on the verge of collapse because it was hijacked by some cabals and they had no other option than to have a consent agreement with Chief Ezeonwuka who said since Johnbosco Akam offset the debt owed Oba Microfinance Bank to rescue his property, they should now have a rent but the NUC said there is nothing like rent but let it be an honorarium of N10 Million every year, adding that out of the N10 Million, N8 Million would be paid to Chief Ezeonwuka while the remaining N2 Million will serve as instalmental repayment to Johnbosco Akam who rescued Ezeonwuka’s property from Oba Microfinance Bank.
He said the first year was paid. The second year was paid. The third and fourth years were paid but on the fifth year problem ensued and Johnbosco Akam stopped paying the yearly honorarium and instituted another legal action against Ezeonwuka that the consent judgment should be voided.
Okorie disclosed further that the consent judgement was signed by the then Vice Chancellor Prof. Nduka Uraih, the CSO of the university Rev. Fr. Elijah Sense; the university lawyer Barr. Nwankwo (SAN), Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka himself and other stakeholders.
He recalled that efforts made by Johnbosco Akam to quash the consent judgement were futile because Ezeonwuka’s bills have accumulated so much and the High Court has given Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka judgement to confiscate the moveable and immovable property of Tansian University to get his money back.
The former PRO of the university reiterated that the consent judgement ordering Tansian University to pay yearly honorarium to Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka still subsists and until the consent judgement is quashed by any higher court, the truth of the matter remains that Tansian University is owing Chief Ezeonwuka years of unpaid honorarium and that the court has granted him permission to sell the university to recover his money.
Meantime, Dr. Eloka Chijioke Menakaya, who noted that he was a pioneer member at Tansian University, said it was rather unfortunate that himself, one Mrs. V.V.I Okoye and some others were laid off unceremoniously by Tansian University management after their efforts and sacrifices in bringing the university to limelight. He said no personal recognition was given to them instead they were shown the exit by those whom he said hijacked the university.
According to him, “it is equally unfortunate that Tansian University is fighting Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka who gave them land upon which the university took off campus at Oba started”.
When contacted also, V.V.I Okoye, who was a pioneer board member of Tansian University, now an octogenarian, described Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka as a very good man and does not deserve the kind of maltreatment meted out to him by the university he was instrumental to its birth.
Reacting to the foregoing, one of the Directors and member of Board of Trustees of Tansian University, Rev. Innocent Uke also described the entire scenario as quite unfortunate.
