Oyo tertiary institutions to get 25 per cent subvention

Rather than the entire stoppage of subventions to tertiary institutions in Oyo State, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has directed that tertiary institutions in the state receive 25 per cent subvention, just as the Ministry of Finance and Budget has urged heads of tertiary institutions to disclose their sources of internally generated revenue.

Member, Oyo House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Honourable Joshua Oyebamiji, made this disclosure at Tuesday’s plenary while rendering the committee’s report on the stoppage of subventions in the state.

Rendering report of the committee’s findings, Oyebamiji had noted that the decision of the state government to stop subventions was owing to paucity of funds and the need for the state-owned institutions to diversify revenue generating ability.

The decision, he disclosed, was also in line with the Federal Government’s directive to states to reduce recurrent expenditure, manage finances prudently so as to access government’s bailout funds.

“In view of the appeals of relevant stakeholders, the issue of stoppage of subvention was discussed at the state executive council meeting on Monday October 17, 2016 where Governor Abiola Ajimobi directed the Commissioner for Finance and Budget to reinstate 25 per cent subvention to tertiary institutions in the state, in the interim,” he stated.

Attending to the recommendations of the committee, Speaker of the Assembly, Honourable Micheal Adeyemo, urged the management of the tertiary institutions to be more transparent in terms of what they generate.

Noting that the government did not collect what the institutions generated, he said the 25 per cent subvention was meant to complement what the institutions generated.

He, however, urged the state government to consider the peculiarities of the institutions rather than 25 per cent across border.

“These institutions are not transparent in terms of their financial situation. What they are collecting is unknown to the government. They have to disclose how they are making money.

“We have a budget that has been passed and budget reviews shows that no institution has achieves 100 per cent implementation. Government is not collecting any money from those institutions but rather the government is giving them money. The 25 per cent subvention is in addition to what they are generating.”

“The state-owned institutions must be urged to be creative to diversity their revenue generating capacity and be prudent. The committee on education will step it up by bringing the government and institutions to a roundtable,” Adeyemo said.