Fear, anxiety as EFCC begins probe of varsities’ financial activities

Fear and anxiety have gripped the management of federal universities following moves by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to launch probe on the management of their finances.

Daily Sun learnt that last week,  Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, paid a visit to the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The EFCC boss was ordered to meet with the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, and discuss the content of the report of the Visitation Panels to the universities few months ago which revealed massive corruption and financial mismanagement in the tertiary institutions.

“The EFCC boss was s directed by the President to personally meet with the Minister to pick up the snippets of the Visitation Panels’ reports, carefully study the reports and possibly commence investigation on all the allegations of corruption and other indictments on institutions and individuals most of whom, as gathered, are from southern Nigeria,” a source privy to the meeting said.

The source claimed  the EFCC chairman was initially scheduled to visit the Ministry of Education few days into the New Year, but the visit could not hold because the minister was away in Germany on  medical trip. It was learnt that Adamu   could not ask anyone to present the documents to the EFCC because the instruction from the President was that the minister should personally hand over the documents and other details to the EFCC boss.

The source said the latest visit to the Ministry by the EFCC boss was to collect the documents.

“The visitation panels’ report revealed huge corruption and financial mismanagement running into billions of Naira that were being perpetrated by the universities over the years through award of fictitious contracts, financial embezzlement, and several other financial and institutional crimes as highlighted in the Visitation Panels’ reports,” the source said.

Daily Sun learnt that the President equally directed that after the probe of the universities, the EFCC should move to polytechnics and colleges of education, whose visitation panels’ report are also ready, or the anti-graft agency should carry out the investigations simultaneously.

It was gathered that the President equally directed that those found wanting should be adequately prosecuted and serve punishments in accordance with relevant laws.

An official of the ministry confirmed to Daily Sun that the EFCC chairman visited the Ministry on Thursday for discussion on huge corruption and financial mismanagement that was highlighted by reports of the visitation panels.

The official said heads would roll at the universities and other tertiary institutions because of the reports of the visitation panels.

“The reports are very indicting and many people were fingered in the huge corruption allegations in the institutions,” he said.

The official said  it was agreed by all parties that adequate support and collaborations should  be provided to ensure that investigations are done very well.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had repeatedly called for the constitution of visitation panels to universities citing high level of corruption, maladministration and mismanagement of funds by the various heads of the institutions.

In response to the calls, the Federal Government, on April 2021, inaugurated the panels to look into the activities of universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education across the country.

The panels were directed to beam their searchlights to cover a period of 10 years, 2010 to 2020, and were expected to submit two reports, one covering 2010 to 2015, and the second for 2016 to 2020.

In August, 2021, the minister had reinstated the commitment of the Federal Government to improve the standards and quality of education in the country through the implementation of the recommendations of the panels from 88 institutions.

Then Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, while receiving the reports on behalf of President Buhari, in August 2021, said 38 universities, 25 polytechnics and 21 Colleges of Education were visited.

(Daily Sun)