Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela has insisted that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, was preventing the forensic audit of the university.
Speaking on a television programme, on Monday, Olowofela however said the owner state governments of LAUTECH remained keen on carrying out the audit so as to correct the institution’s “nebulous and porous” accounting system.
He pointed out that the institution’s account was last audited in 2012, warning ASUU against blackmailing the state government for its decision to audit the institution’s account.
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Holding onto the recommendation of the Chief Wole Olanipekun panel report that the account be audited, Olowofela stated that the owner governments had to be circumspect in injecting money without proper account of funds.
He said the state government rather than wait on the governing council to do the audit, decided to “take the bull by the horn and solve the problem permanently.
“Government has begun a process to solve the problem once and for all. KPMG has been given three weeks’ mandate to complete its assignment but members of the union are preventing the audit firm from carrying out the assignment.
“It is correct that it is the governing council that should be facing this problem, but government has taken the bull by the horn and that is why we are doing what we need to do to solve the problem. The blackmail will not work.
“The process of solving LAUTECH problem permanently has commenced. The Chief Wole Olanipekun report directed the owner state governments to carry out a forensic audit of the institution because the accounting system is nebulous and porous. The truth is that the accounting process there is not what we are proud for. We give money carefully.
“The panel report revealed that the institution operated 97 accounts. It also revealed that as at 2011/2012 session, there was about N400 million hanging that cannot be accounted for. Since 2012, the account of the institution has not been audited. So, the position of the two state governments is that the audit firm completes its assignment then we will do whatever we need to do. There is a lot of fund trapped that could not be accounted for.
“The position should be clear. The position of ASUU should be about the welfare of members of the union. Up till today, ASUU has not presented any document to government stating what it is agitating for. ASUU has been moving from one radio, television to another, involving in itinerant propaganda.
“The strategy to increase the IGR is indicated in the panel report. Once IGR is increased, the issue of funding will be reduced and increase in tuition fee may be part of it. Governor Ladoja raised the tuition fee from N2,000 to N50,000. The school fees will be adjusted to reflect current realities but there are other methods by which government will generate resources,” Olowofela said.
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