Reps to investigate financial activities in S/South universities

The House of Representatives has resolved to carry out a forensic investigation into the financial activities of universities in the south-south region of the country.

Rep. Abubakar Fulata, Chairman of the House Committee on University Education, said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, following an oversight function by the lawmakers to ascertain their performance.

The universities are: University of Calabar, Cross State, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurum, Delta State, Federal University Uyo, and Akwa Ibom State, among others.

This, according to Fulata, is due to the inconsistencies observed in their submissions during the committee’s oversight visit to the universities in the South-South region.

He said the forensic examination became necessary following discrepancies and irreconcilable data observed in the documents presented to the committee.

Other universities the committee visited and required further investigation included Federal University Otueke, Bayelsa State, and Nigerian Maritime University Okerenkoko, Warri South, Delta State.

The committee urged some of the newly established universities to avoid the mistakes of older universities.

This, according to the committee, is based on non-compliance with federal character principles and spending internally generated revenue without appropriation.

The universities include the Federal University of Medical and Health Science Kwale, Delta State, and the Federal University of Technology Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State.

Fulata said the committee had visited over 30 federal universities in 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in the last few weeks.

He added that there was no going back on their decision and determination to make a difference in spite of the obvious challenges.

Fulata said that apart from logistics challenges like cost of transportation (travelling by air, land, and water), among others, there is also the challenge of travelling on the roads and water for several hours.

He said the oversight visit enabled the committee to get first-hand information regarding the challenges in the universities and come up with better ways of addressing them.