Federal Tertiary Educational Institutions’ Funding May be Withheld- Senator Adeola

The Senate Ad Hoc Investigation Committee on Alleged Misuse, Under Remittance and Other Fraudulent Activities in Collection, Accounting and Expenditure of IGR by Revenue Generating Agencies of Government may recommend the withholding of yearly budgetary allocations to federal government owned tertiary education institutions and other similar institutions following their refusal to remit percentage of revenue generated through their activities to the Consolidated Revenue Account of the FG in contravention of the 1999 Constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.

Senator Solomon Adeola, (APC, Lagos West) chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee disclosed this during the appearance of some of the educational and health institutions before the Committee and the revelations at the committee sitting by the Dr. Bakari Wadinga, the Director of Revenue and Investment of the Federal Ministry of Finance to the effect that his research, which has already been submitted to the Minister of Financ, shows that on the average most of the institution generate about N500 million per annum without remitting a dime to the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation contrary to extant laws of the land.

“From our finding so far, it is clear that these institutions collect huge budgetary allocations for capital projects, overheads and salaries for their operations and further generate hundreds of millions from various internally generated revenue sources including commercial ventures without remitting anything to the coffers of Government. The practice is for them to completely spend all IGR on many frivolous and questionable expenditure head to avoid declaring a surplus or claim huge losses and thereby evade remittance to the Federal Government in accordance with Fiscal Responsibility Act” Senator Adeola stated.

The senator said that a situation where the universities and other institutions collect huge budgetary allocations and generates revenues in multi millions without remitting a dime to the Federal Government cannot be allowed to continue while they engaged in unauthorized and unlawful expenditure of IGR meant for government coffers.

“We may want to consider the remittances from IGR of these institutions to the Federation Accounts before budgetary approval is granted and released to them. So far most of them have been presenting fictitious and muddled up accounts of their incomes and expenditures with many of them requesting to go and prepare a new account after the committee discovered serious lapses running into hundreds of millions in their accounts” the chairman stated.

So far about 12 universities and similar institutions has appeared before the committee including Federal University , Wukari, Taraba State, Federal University, Ndufu, Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi state, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, federal University of Petroleum Resources , Effurun, Delta State, Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom and Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan among other.