ABUJA—AN audit panel set up in May by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to audit the utilization of the take-off grants to the 12 new universities established by the Jonathan-led administration, has turned in its report, revealing that the 12 universities have just 3,756 academic staff.
Besides, the panel said the total number of students’ enrollment in all the 12 universities stands at 40,614 with only about 32 percent of the lecturers having PhD degrees. Similarly, it said the guidelines by the Public Procurement Act, PPA, were duly followed in most cases in award of contracts in the institutions while there were also few of breaches.
Chairman of the panel, Prof. Olufemi Bamiro, stated these during the presentation of the report to the minister in his office. Speaking while receiving the report, Adamu said the issues of students’ accommodation and accreditation of courses would be looked into quickly to ensure that the institutions were repositioned on the right pedestal.
While adding that the report would be studied and the recommendations appropriately implemented, he commended members of the panel for their dedication and diligence in completing the task within the short period.
Meanwhile, Bamiro, who told the minister that the report was in two parts- main report and individual institution’s report, urged him to critically look at it with a view to implementing the recommendations.
Prof. Bamiro thanked the minister for the opportunity given to members of the panel to serve their fatherland, and urged him to look critically into the specific observations and recommendations in the reports.
