WorldStage— The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has uncovered serious financial discrepancies and administrative irregularities across nine federal universities following an oversight tour of tertiary institutions in Nigeria’s South-West geopolitical zone.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the committee chairman, Abubakar Fulata, revealed that on-the-spot assessments of financial documents exposed widespread inconsistencies between internally generated revenue (IGR) and reported expenditures, alongside poor compliance with the Appropriation Act.
Fulata highlighted glaring contradictions in the accounting records submitted by several institutions during the exercise.
“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?” Fulata queried.
He further cited instances where an institution declared N12 billion in income but accounted for only N8 billion in spending, leaving an unexplained balance of N4 billion.
Among the affected institutions is the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where lawmakers flagged an alleged N7.1 billion excess in the university’s 2024 and 2025 financial records.
UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, was reportedly unavailable during the committee’s visit, and her representatives failed to provide satisfactory explanations for the anomaly.
The panel therefore summoned Ogunsola to appear before it next week with comprehensive budget details covering 2024 to 2026.
The committee also directed four other institutions to update their books and submit detailed reports on their 2024, 2025, and 2026 budget implementation.
These include Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife; Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA); Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE); and Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun.
Other institutions assessed during the tour were the University of Ibadan (UI), Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo; Federal University of Agriculture and Development Studies, Iragbiji; Federal University of Technology and Environmental Studies, Iyin-Ekiti; and the Nigeria French Language Village, Badagry.
Fulata warned that a lack of transparency would compound existing funding challenges in the education sector.
He urged vice-chancellors to strictly account for both federal allocations and IGR, observe the federal character principle in admissions and recruitment, and ensure public funds are utilized strictly for approved purposes, assuring that impending 2027 election activities will not derail legislative oversight.
