The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has questioned some federal universities in the South-West over alleged inconsistencies in their budget implementation and financial records.
The committee chairman, Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, following an oversight visit to the institutions, during which members demanded explanations for unexplained differences in their financial records.
The universities inspected included Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife; Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA); Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo; and the University of Lagos (UNILAG), among others.
Fulata said the committee identified alleged financial infractions and inconsistencies in documents submitted by some of the institutions concerning their revenue and expenditure.
He explained that some universities reported generating N9 billion but spending N10 billion without accounting for the additional N1 billion. In another instance, a university declared N12 billion in revenue but recorded only N8 billion in expenditure without explaining the whereabouts of the remaining N4 billion.
The lawmaker also expressed displeasure over the absence of UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, during the oversight exercise. He said the committee had directed her to appear before it and present explanations on the university’s 2024 to 2026 budget estimates within one week.
According to him, the university management officials present at the meeting could neither explain the N7.1 billion excess recorded in the 2024 and 2025 budgets nor provide the necessary financial details.
The committee further instructed the managements of OAU, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, FUTA and Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Osun State, to reconcile their financial records and submit detailed reports on their budget implementation for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Fulata called on vice-chancellors of the affected institutions to ensure strict compliance with the 2026 Appropriation Act, stressing the importance of transparency, accountability and adherence to relevant laws.
He added that the committee’s inspection revealed significant challenges confronting the universities.
The committee also stressed the need for federal character principles to be observed in the recruitment of staff and admission of students.
