Members of House Committee on Public Accounts were shocked when the Bursar of the University of Ibadan, Michael Alatise, revealed that the institution failed to submit its audited accounts because the External Auditor engaged for that purpose went blind and died while preparing the accounts.
The lawmakers however discovered that the deceased Auditor was still being paid his retainership fee by the University as at last year after the incident in 2008.
Angered by the submission of the UI Bursar, the Committee ordered full investigation into financial status of the university.
When Alatise made the submission, committee members were initially bemused, but later frowned at the excuse, saying they assumed the University was dealing with a firm and not an individual.
According to the lawmakers, that the Principal Partner of the Audit firm was struck with blindness should not truncate the process as there were other staff in the organisation.
Responding to the Bursar’s submission, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Wole Oke, said: “That somebody went blind does not mean that the firm will go into extinction.
“It can’t.
“And sincerely speaking, it is not palatable that from 2014 to date, the University of Ibadan does not have an account with the Auditor-General.
“No!
“You won’t get money in the next budgetary allocation.”
Another member of the committee said of the continuous renewal of the retainer ship of the accounting firm by the university: “If for any reason you renew, it is one-year renewal.
“This university cannot be talking about 2014 of issues that have been there since 2009.
“The man’s tenure had expired in 2008 and if for any reason you had to renew it for him, it also expired in 2009.
“So, if the man went blind in 2008 and then you renewed for him in 2009, and then the firm had issues and you still renewed for him in 2010, and till 2020 you are still renewing for a man who was blind in 2008, I think we should not be taken for a joke.”
But Alatise said the auditor’s tenure expired in 2010. Adding: “So we had a new auditor.
“It was the new external auditor that was having problems.
“He had to go to his (old auditor’s) house several times because there were some figures that needed to be cleared.”
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