The Abia State Government has announced the cancellation of the recently concluded Preliminary Test Sessions examination for student nurses in the state. 

This decision was made in response to allegations of irregularities and wrongdoing during the conduct of the examination.

The state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, addressed the media on Tuesday, stating that the cancellation was necessary to ensure transparency and protect the integrity of the examination process. 

He emphasized that the government takes the allegations seriously and is committed to conducting a thorough investigation.

“In order to show transparency in all its activities, the state government has ordered the cancellation of the result of the last Nursing exams,” Kanu stated. 

“This was based on the allegations of wrongdoing leveled against some individuals. As a responsible government, a committee was set up and the preliminary report of the committee is that the exam be canceled while investigations continue.“

The commissioner further clarified that a new examination will be scheduled soon and that the investigation committee will continue its work to uncover the truth behind the irregularities. 

He stressed that no indictments or arrests have been made at this stage.

Principal Secretary and Chief Strategist to the Governor, Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, provided additional details about the investigation process. 

He revealed that the committee has met with all relevant stakeholders, including petitioners, institutional leadership, and technology vendors, to gather information and assess the situation.

“The committee met with all the stakeholders; the students who have petitioned, the leadership of the institutions that were involved. This exam was conducted as CBT, Computer Based Test and so the vendors who provided the technology were also interviewed by the committee,” Mba-Uzoukwu explained.

“After reviewing all the information that has come forward from all these parties, it was clear that the examinations could have been conducted better in a manner that would have maintained the integrity that’s expected of any examination.”

Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, reinforced the government’s commitment to upholding transparency and accountability. 

He emphasized that the cancellation decision aligns with Governor Otti’s pledge to clean up the system and address longstanding issues within the healthcare sector.

“What the government has just done is in tandem with the promises made by the Governor on assumption of office,” Ekeoma asserted. 

“Don’t forget, he declared a state of emergency in the health sector. The principals of schools of Nursing and all the rest of them were invited through the Commissioner for Health. They were spoken to, and the government made them understand that it was aware of all the things, the corruption that has been going on there, and warned that going forward, such a thing would not be allowed. Don’t forget that the admission proper was not done by this government. Ordinarily, we would not have admitted one hundred and something for a quota of 75 persons. So what we are doing is the sanitization process.”