*Query N7.1bn UNILAG excess

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education says it has uncovered financial discrepancies in the records of nine universities following an oversight exercise in the South-West.

The affected institutions include Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), the University of Ibadan (UI), the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), and the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

In a statement issued on Saturday, the committee’s chairman, Abubakar Fulata, said the discovery followed an oversight visit by the panel to universities across the South-West.

Fulata said the committee identified instances of alleged infractions and inconsistencies in documents relating to the income and expenditure of the institutions.

“In some cases, the documents submitted are contradicting each other. You claimed to have generated N9 billion and spent N10 billion; where did you get the N1 billion from?” the statement quoted him as saying.

“In another instance, you will see N12 billion generated as income and only N8 billion spent without any information regarding the whereabouts of the balance of N4 billion.”

The committee chairman said on-the-spot assessment visits to universities and inter-university centres exposed the enormous challenges confronting the institutions.

He added that a lack of transparency, efficiency and compliance with the Appropriation Act would further compound the challenges facing the universities.

Fulata said the committee had directed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Folasade Ogunsola, to submit the institution’s budget records for 2024 to 2026 and appear before the panel next week.

He explained that Ogunsola was unavailable when the committee visited the university, while representatives who received the panel could neither explain the N7.1 billion excess recorded in 2024 and 2025 nor provide the necessary information during their interaction with the lawmakers.

According to the statement, the committee also directed the managements of Obafemi Awolowo University, the Federal University of Technology, Akure, the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), and the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila Orangun, Osun State, to update their records and make comprehensive submissions on their 2024, 2025 and 2026 budget implementation.

Other institutions visited by the committee include Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo; the Federal University of Agriculture and Development Studies, Iragbiji; the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Studies, Iyin-Ekiti; and the Nigeria French Language Village, Badagry, Lagos State.

The committee chairman also urged the universities to uphold the federal character principle in the recruitment of workers and admission of students.