The visitation panel to Taraba State University revealed financial infractions amounting to N3.5 billion on Thursday.
According to The PUNCH, the panel’s chairman, Prof. Josiah Sabo-Kente, disclosed in Jalingo that the university had maintained a poor accounting system since its establishment in 2008.
He further noted that the institution operated below the minimum standards set by the National Universities Commission.
As a result of their findings, the panel recommended a complete overhaul of the university system.
Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, had formed the panel on December 24, 2023, with a 12-point mandate to identify the challenges facing the institution.
The governor expressed hope that the panel’s report would guide the government in intervening and revitalizing the university in alignment with its free education policy.
While passing down the verdict of the panel on Thursday, the panel chairman said, “The university has since inception in 2008 operated a poor accounting system. At a point from 2012 to 2016, the university operated without a cash book, making it difficult to reconcile the financial records of the university, but 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, with the total of these amounting to over N3.5bn.
“This underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive investigation of the university’s financial management practices, including handling of statutory allocations and internally generated revenue.”
Sabo-Kente emphasized that the frequent turnover in the appointment of the chairman of the governing council, without a stable university administration, had severely impacted the institution. He noted that despite running 53 programs, the university had only 36 professors, 45 readers, and 59 senior lecturers.
He expressed concern over departments with only one professor and 18 non-academic staff, calling it unacceptable. Kente highlighted a significant deficit in academic staff across faculties and departments, with only 609 tenured academic staff compared to 1,819 non-academic staff.
He said, “Out of the academic staff, 218 are graduate assistants-in-training and 140 are visiting, adjunct, or sabbatical staff. This falls short of the NUC benchmark of 70% academic staff and 30% non-academic staff.”
The panel’s report also outlined infrastructural challenges like lighting, water shortage, and insufficient medical facilities, emphasizing the need for immediate action to address these issues.
