Audit Query: Reps Committee orders NUC boss to produce errant VCs

The Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the House of Representatives on Wednesday directed the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed Adamu, to produce before it all the Vice Chancellors whose universities were indicted by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation for illegal approval of budgets and extra-constitutional expeditures over the years

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke, (PDP-Osun), gave the directive at the resumed hearing of the ongoing investigation of federal government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, over alleged extra budgetary spendings.

The Auditor General of the Federation had alleged that some of the agencies were operating illegal budgets and extra-constitutinal expeditures over the years

Hon. Oke, while speaking shortly after the Vice Chancellor of the Adama Modibo, Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Prof Abdullahi Leman Tukur, made his presentation before the Committee, said that the action became necessary as the affected Vice Chancellors had refused to honour all the invitations extended to them without any justification.

Advertisement

He directed the Clerk of the committee to notify the Minister of Education about the development.

According to him, “the Executive Secretary of NUC is hereby directed to bring the affected Vice Chancellors before this honourable Committee to speak to the audit queries raised against their universities. Enough of this ignoble act, why are they avoiding the parliament, it means they have something to hide.

“The Committee is trying to give the affected Vice Chancellors an opportunity of fair hearing, we are going to name them and shame them in the national dailies, we have the power to issue warrant of arrest against then, they must account for public funds they collected,” he said.

Hon. Oke urged Prof. Tukur to assist the Committee to educate his colleagues of making themselves available before the Committee based on his experience, appearace, saying that the committee was not out to harass them.

The Vice Chancellors are being expected to appear before the Committee with the followings:
● Copies of the budgetary estimates the Commission presented to the Mr President through the Budget Office of the Federation with respect to the 2015 to 2022 fiscal year
● Copies of the budget estimates that was presented to the Mr President shich in turn presented to the National Assembly
● And Confirmation on whether the Constitutionally laid down process was complied with prior to expenditures from the Internally Generated Revenue by the Commission with documentary evidence
● Approved Budget (both Appropiation and IGR 2021 and 2022), amogst others.

Prof Tukur who commended the Committee for its good work promised to talk to his colleagues on the need for them to do the needful.