Nine varsities face probe over financial irregularities

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The House of Reps Committee on University Education has uncovered alleged financial discrepancies in nine federal universities, demanding accountability. Read More:…

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has uncovered alleged financial discrepancies in the records of some federal universities, directing their vice-chancellors to account for public funds and comply strictly with budgetary provisions.

The committee also directed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, to submit details of the institution’s 2024, 2025, and 2026 budgets and appear before it next week over an alleged N7.1bn excess in its financial records.

The Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Fulata, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday following an oversight visit to universities and inter-university centres across the South-West geopolitical zone.

Fulata said the exercise exposed financial inconsistencies, a lack of transparency, and possible non-compliance with budgetary provisions in some institutions, warning that such practices could worsen the challenges confronting the university system.

Citing discrepancies in financial records submitted by some universities, the lawmaker questioned how institutions could report internally generated revenue and expenditure figures that did not correspond.

He said, “In some cases, the documents submitted contradict each other. You claimed to have generated N9bn and spent N10bn—where did you get the N1bn from?

“In another instance, you will see N12bn generated as income and only N8bn spent, without any information regarding the whereabouts of the balance of N4bn.”

The committee chairman urged vice-chancellors and their management teams to uphold transparency and accountability in their financial dealings, stressing that public institutions must account for both government allocations and internally generated revenue.

He said proper financial management was critical to improving the quality of university education and ensuring that public funds were deployed for their approved purposes.

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