KWASU not a debtor institution, says Kwara govt

THE Kwara Government  says  the state-owned university in Malete is not a debtor institution.

The Senior Special Assistant  to the Governor on Media and Communications, Muhyideen Akorede, said  in Ilorin on Monday that Kwara State University(KWASU)  was also  not in financial distress.

KWASU’s Pro Chancellor, Saidu Isa, on Saturday at the university’s  5th convocation described it as “a debtor institution’’ due to financial difficulties.

Isa claimed that KWASU had so far secured loans  close to N1 billion to pay staff salaries and maintain the school.

Akorede, however, said that subventions to KWASU and other tertiary institutions in the state were stopped based on estimates prepared by them  as a prelude to the state’s 2017 budget proposal.

“In 2016, the state government and managements of tertiary institutions in the state reviewed the schools’ expected revenue inflows and financial commitments.

“That review concluded that some institutions no longer required subventions from the government.

“The government, however,  made a commitment to continue to provide funding for accreditation exercises.

“It is instructive to note that the government reviewed the subventions accruing to the state-owned institutions after deploying mechanisms to block loopholes and wastage in the system, as part of efforts to cut costs,” he said.

He added that it was after the review that the government discovered that the internal revenues generated by institutions such as KWASU and Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, were enough to meet their financial obligations.

“This discovery necessitated the state government’s decision to discontinue the monthly subventions to the institutions.

“With regards to KWASU, and as stated earlier, the university’s budget for this year was prepared based on expected students enrolment and payment of fees as well as recurrent expenditure.

“However, KWASU could not meet the set target due to a two-week delay in the enrolment of new students, which led to a revenue shortfall,” Akorede said

He noted that the financial status of the university would normalise as soon as students resume in July for a new academic session.

“Therefore, any bridge financial intervention  initiated by the university is temporary and does not amount to distress.

“The state government maintains that its decision to stop subventions accruing to some of the state-owned tertiary institutions was based on the finances of the institutions and its determination to make them self-sustaining,” Akorede added.