Reps committee decries breach of federal character principles by varsities 

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has decried non-compliance with federal character principles in the appointment of workers and admission of students in universities in the country.

Chairman of the committee, Rep. Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), in a statement on Thursday, called for a halt to the trend.

Fulata said that the committee observed the ugly trend during its oversight visit to some universities in the South-West geopolitical zone.

He listed the institutions visited to include the Federal University of Technology, Akure; Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife; and the University of Ibadan, among others.

According to the lawmaker, irrespective of location, there is no reason for any university not to adhere to the federal character principles in terms of appointment, recruitment of employees and admission of students.

“We have observed that many universities are not complying with the federal character principles in the appointment and employment of workers, even in the admission of students.

“The Act Establishing the Federal Character Commission is very clear on this aspect. 2.7 per cent equity share of each state of the federation, 1 per cent for Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and 3 per cent for the state where the institution is located, but there is no semblance of this in most universities today,” he said.

The chairman urged the management team of universities not to abuse the law that allows professors to stay in service till 70 years of age.

He noted that it was disturbing to see the name of an employee of a university born in 1958 who is neither a lecturer nor a librarian in the staff nominal roll.

According to him, any member of the non-teaching staff who has attained the compulsory retirement age in service should be allowed to retire.

Fulata explained that the oversight visit was a constitutional responsibility that sought to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability in the system.

While tasking universities on proper utilisation of the available resources, he cautioned against spending huge amounts of money on travels, entertainments and other items at the detriment of educational goals and objectives in the university, saying this was unacceptable.

He also warned against suppression of figures, underreporting of internally generated revenue, misrepresentation and irreconcilable entries. (NAN)

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