Highbury College loses £91,000 as it clears out Nigerian bank account

Highbury College was sitting on around £400,000 in funds linked to a ‘legacy international project’ that finished a few years ago.

Now its board has taken the decision to pull the money out of the country.

It comes as the Cosham college is still in a legal battle over £1.4m it says it is owed by the Cross River State Government in Nigeria.

A college representative said: ‘Following the board’s decision, the money has been repatriated to the UK. The amount repatriated was (around) £309,000 GBP.

‘These funds were a legacy from an international project which concluded some years ago.

‘The college had been waiting for a more favourable exchange rate which unfortunately has not materialised and was not forecast.’

As reported, its accounts have been delayed following intervention by the FE Commissioner.

Auditors are still poring over the accounts, and the delay has been approved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Meanwhile, the college is in dispute with HMRC over VAT on building projects – reported by sector newspaper FE Week to be around £1m.

Separately, chairman Martin Doel has told the governing board it will take time to change the institution's culture.

It comes after Stella Mbubaegbu CBE stepped down and was replaced by interim principal Penny Wycherley.

The News and FE Week revealed Ms Mbubaegbu £150,000 spending on a corporate credit card. She defended the spend and said she was not a spendthrift.

Minutes from the January meeting said: ‘Martin (Doel) stated that majority of actions concerned governance and most of them had been achieved but changing college culture would take longer.’

It was also revealed the college was expecting an Ofsted inspection.

Interim principal and experienced higher education troubleshooter Mrs Wycherley set out some of her key work, including: morale and confidence in skills, developing the executive management team, stabilising the college’s financial position, clear and honest communication, (and) simplifying processes’.

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