A visitation panel set up by Governor Agbu Kefas has discovered financial infractions to the tune of N3.5bn in the Taraba State University.
According to the PUNCH, the chairman of the panel, Prof. Josiah Sabo-Kente, who addressed journalists in Jalingo on Thursday, said the university has operated a poor accounting system since its inception in 2008.
He added that the university was being operated below the minimum standards of the National Universities Commission.
The panel, therefore, recommended a total overhaul of the university system.
Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas had, on December 24, 2023, constituted the visitation panel with a 12-point term of reference to identify the challenges confronting the institution.
According to the governor, the panel report would enable the government to intervene and reposition the institution per the administration’s free education policy.
Passing down the panel’s verdict on Thursday, the chairman said, “The university has, since inception in 2008, operated a poor accounting system. From 2012 to 2016, the university operated without a cash book, making it difficult to reconcile the university’s financial records. Still, we used financial experts on the panel to make sense of the financial spending within the period.
“Financial infractions from 2010 to 2023 in the institution reveal significant discrepancies and irregularities, totaling to over N3.5bn.
This underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive investigation of the university’s financial management practices, including handling statutory allocations and internally generated revenue.”
Sabo-Kente said the pattern and frequent turnover in the appointment of the chairman of the governing council without a university administration had adversely affected the institution.
According to him, the university was running 53 programs with only 36 professors, 45 readers, and 59 senior lecturers.
He decried the development whereby some departments had only one professor and 18 non-academic staff, saying such was unacceptable.
Kente further explained that the university faced a notable deficit in academic staff across its faculties and departments, with only 609 tenured academic staff members compared to the 1,819 non-academic staff.
He said, “Of the academic staff, 218 are graduate assistants-in-training and 140 visiting, adjunct or sabbatical staff. This is against the NUC benchmark of 70 percent academic staff and 30 percent non-academic staff.”
The panel report also highlighted infrastructural challenges, such as lighting, water shortage, and insufficient medical facilities, and called for immediate action to address the challenges.
