A group, Concerned Citizens, has petitioned the senate and Kwara State House of Assembly over what it termed "tyranny" of the University of Ilorin on the deadline for tuition fees in the university.

It said the ultimatum handed by the institution for payment of school fees for 2015/2016 academic session in the wake of the current economic hardship in the country was outdated, obsolete, insensitive and cruel.

This was contained in a Save Our Soul statement written to the office of senate president, speaker of the state House of Assembly and state Chief Judge and signed by Secretary of the group, Sherifat AbdulAzeez, a copy of which was made available to The Herald Education in Ilorin yesterday.

It said for the university to have extended the academic years of students who were unable to meet the deadline for payment by a year, was gross injustice. The group accused the management of the institution of being inconsiderate to the psychological trauma the affected students were likely to go through.

The group urged the relevant authorities to mandate the institution to reverse what it called "obnoxious law", open the portal and allow students who were allegedly disallowed from writing the first semester examination to do so. While alleging that the University was known for rushing to complete the session without necessarily completing the course outline for the session, the Concerned Citizens demanded that the academic session should be long enough to cover the syllabus for the session. It also demanded that the university should be made to face sanction for every obnoxious decree.

The statement partly reads, "The University of Ilorin opened her portal for the payment of her school fees for 2015/2016 academic session between October and November 2016. Thereafter, it became a serious tussle to register for this academic session for old students.

"The university has an obnoxious law, which stipulates that after a month or two of opening the portal, it becomes impossible for the portal to be opened for late payment of tuition. The law has it that once students are not able to pay within the stipulated period, students who are unable to pay in good time automatically extend their academic period by a year. "Considering the non-payment of salaries and the current economic realities all over the country however, the above stand is outdated, obsolete, insensitive, cruel and wicked".