The Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, has said that its management under the leadership of Professor Edward Olanipekun has zero tolerance for fraud of any kind, and would not cover up fraudulent practices for any reason.
The institution was reacting to an allegation by the institution’s Joint Action Committee that there is an attempt to overlook some fraudulent acts in the university’s ICT department, owing to “vested interests.”
The JAC, comprising the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), had at a recent press conference accused the management of looking away from some fraudulent acts discovered in the university’s ICT department “due to their vested interests in the matter.”
But in a statement on Wednesday, the Head, Directorate of Information & Corporate Affairs, Bode Olofinmuagun, said the university management has no vested interests in the alleged portal fraud.
Olofinmuagun said the management, on the directive of the Governing Council, had since referred the matter to the appropriate government agency for necessary action.
“All staff who were alleged to have committed administrative infractions in the portal fraud shall soon be made to face appropriate disciplinary committees,” he said.
He said the management is not unaware of the arrears of three months unpaid salaries in 2018, unremitted cooperative deductions and Contributory Pension Scheme which predates the current administration.
Apart from defraying substantially the huge debts it met on the ground, he said the current administration under the leadership of Professor Edward Olanipekun has ensured payment of gross salaries and other emoluments consistently, despite paucity of funds.
According to him, the failure of the past administration in the state to release six months subvention to the university also contributed to the precarious financial situation of the university.
Olofinmuagun said that the university management expects JAC, as partners in progress, to join hands with the current leadership of the university in its drive to find lasting solutions to the financial crisis confronting it, rather than aggravating it through unnecessary protest and press conferences.
