FG tasks varsity councils on IGR, funding

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu Monday inaugurated the Governing Councils of 13 federal universities in the country with a charge for creative ways to improve their funding.

During the inauguration in Abuja, the minister also charged the chairmen and members of the various councils to foster harmonious relationships while carrying out their duties in the next four years. 

He urged council members and chairmen to respect the rule of law in the discharge of their official duties while also observing the rules of federal character in the appointment of their officers. 

Adamu also tasked the governing boards to block loopholes and come up with ideas that would shore up the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the universities. He said the major areas of challenge were inadequate funding as well as judicious use of available resources. 

“Therefore, let me advise you to come up with new creative ways of improving funding in your institutions.

 “You will have to block the loopholes where the IGR slides away,” he said. 

Adamu further said that visitation panels would be visiting the universities in the following weeks while calling on the new council members to effectively cooperate with the panel so as to lay a solid foundation.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, said the inauguration of the council members marked the beginning of a new phase in the introduction of the first 12 specialised universities.

Rasheed said the NUC was also inspired by the map of 2018-2020 and has been committed to revitalising Nigeria’s university education. 

Responding, the representative of the newly appointed chairmen, Professor Funmilayo Togonu-Bickersteth, said the council members looked forward to cooperating with the minister and NUC, especially in the provision of useful information.

Among the newly appointed council chairmen is Professor Nimmi Briggs, who will chair the governing council of Ndufo Alike University in Ebonyi.

The universities with new Governing Council Members are Federal University, Lokoja; Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa state; Federal University Kashere, Gombe; and Federal University, Wukari, Taraba.

Ex-NDDC boss’ allegation against Akpabio unfounded – CSO (2) 

By Agi Onda

 Abuja

A civil society organisation, Guardians of Democracy and Development (GDD) has described as “unfounded and misleading” allegations made by a former acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ms. Joy Nunieh against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

The CSO in a statement signed by its convener, Danesi Momoh Prince and made available to journalists in Abuja, Monday, argued that it was curious that Ms. Nunieh was making such allegations against the background that the agency has had to be trailed by similar accusations during her tenure.

The former NDDC MD had alleged that Senator Akpabio repeatedly pressured her to take “an oath of secrecy” that was meant to keep her from exposing fraud at the Commission during her brief tenure. According to her, the Minister had in one instance, asked her to raise a memo to fraudulently award emergency contracts for flood victims in the Niger Delta.

However, the CSO maintained it had every reason to believe that Ms. Nunieh, was only out to appeal to emotions of the people and to save her face insisting that as a legal professional, she should assemble her evidences and approach the anti-graft agencies for proper investigation and possible prosecution if need be rather than resorting to what it described as sympathy appeal.

The group while absolving itself of holding brief for the minister, noted that it was ridiculous that a legal professional would claim that she was given verbal instructions for serious administrative matters.

“As a group committed to ensuring good governance, we have investigated the series of controversies that have trailed the NDDC for some time now and we have found that the Commission was hitherto enmeshed in monumental corruption. The NDDC became cash cow for some few individuals and projects execution came to a halt.

“But with the coming of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, several monies have been recovered from projects not executed. Projects execution that took flight many years ago in the Commission began to spring up here and there for all to see. This is why we find it expedient to speak up as a group that has carried out thorough investigation on the activities of the Commission.

“We make bold to say that the allegations made by the sacked MD and the several media campaign against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is a clear case of corruption fighting back. It is common knowledge that those who converted the commission to their private estate would certainly not sit back freely and watch their sources of ill gotten wealth taken away from them without fighting back.”

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