House summons VCs over alleged extra budgetary expenditures

Backs creation of centre to control proliferation of small arms

House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) has summoned some vice chancellors (VCs) of universities over alleged extra-budgetary expenditures.

The Wole Oke-led committee directed Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed Adamu, to produce VCs indicted by Office of the Auditor General of the Federation over the alleged infraction.

Oke (PDP, Osun) gave the directive at the resumed hearing in the ongoing investigation of over 100 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government allegedly operating illegal budgets and extra-constitutional expenditures.

Speaking shortly after Prof. Abdullahi Leman Tukur, Vice Chancellor of Adama Modibo Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, made his presentation before the committee, Oke said the action became necessary because the affected vice chancellors refused to honour invitations extended to them without justification.

He directed the clerk of the committee to immediately notify the minister of education of the development. He said: “The Executive Secretary of NUC is, hereby, directed to bring the affected vice chancellors before this honourable committee to speak to the audit queries raised against their universities. Enough of this ignoble act! Why are they avoiding the parliament? It means they have something to hide.

“The committee is trying to give the affected vice chancellors an opportunity for fair hearing. We are going to name them and shame them in national dailies. We have the power to issue warrants of arrest against them. They must account for public funds they collected.”

MEANWHILE, the House is set to consider recommendation of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence for the establishment of a centre for the coordination and control of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.

In the synopsis of the report, seen by journalists, yesterday, the committee chairman, Shaaban Sharada (APC, Kano), explained: “This bill seeks to establish a national institutional framework to implement provisions of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons 2006.

“It will go a long way to promote and ensure the coordination of concrete measures for effective control of small arms and light weapons in the country.

“The centre would further combat the proliferation by arms smugglers across our own porous borders into Nigeria, as well as the West African sub-region.

“We, therefore, strongly recommend that the House considers and passes the provisions of the bill.”