A former vice-chancellor of the University of Abuja, Michael Adikwu, was reported to have received N7.49 million as salary after his tenure had expired on June 30, 2019.
According to the 2020 Audit report by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF), Adikwu, was paid a monthly salary consecutively between July 2019 and December 2019, six months after his tenure.
This would mean that the former VC received N1.25 million monthly within the period captured by the OAuGF report.
Adikwu, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences, served as the vice-chancellor of the University of Abuja between 2014 and June 2019. He was succeeded by Abdul-Rasheed Na’allah, who was inaugurated as the 6th Vice Chancellor of the institution in July 2019.
The report quoted Paragraph 415 of the Financial Regulations (FR) 2009, which states, “The Federal Government requires all officers responsible for expenditure to exercise due economy. Money must not be spent merely because it has been voted.”
Payment for overseas leave
The audit report stated that a sum of N9.2 million was paid to the former VC on August 19, 2019, as leave allowance to travel abroad with his wife and four children.
The report noted that there was no budgetary provision for the payment as well as no evidence of approval by the relevant authorities before the payment was made.
The payment was against Section 80(4) of 1999 Nigeria’s Constitution, as amended, which states, “no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly”.
In its response, the management of the institution said that the approvals were made by the Governing Councils according to ‘Condition of Service for Principal Officers and Senior Staff’ regulations.
The management said that it was peculiar to all Nigerian Universities for the outgoing vice chancellor to be entitled to his salaries, allowances and sabbatical leave for one year after his tenure.
However, the report recommended that the money be recovered and remitted to the treasury with forwarded evidence of remittance to the Public Account Committee of the National Assembly.
Other irregularities
The report also stated that a sum of N4.74 million was paid to the chairman of the governing council for sponsorship of a foreign tour to which the school’s management claimed that the chairman was invited.
Another N5.86 million was paid to contractors for procurement of store items and no evidence that the supplies were made was recorded in the Store Received Voucher (SRV).
Also, N5.47 million was paid to professional bodies on behalf of the staff and the payments were linked to the career progression of the officers against the provisions of extant regulations.
Other irregularities include N80.03 million for procurement of consultants, N2.11 million for payment of duty tour allowance in excess of the approved rate and N14.10 million for the engagement of consultants.
Read more reports on the 2020 Aduit report here
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at [email protected] (jameskennyogunyale@gmail) or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames