Account for N8bn LAUTECH refund, APC Media Clusters tasks Adeleke

The Osun APC Media Clusters is calling on Governor Ademola Adeleke to account for N8bn compensation collected by the Osun state government over the dissolution of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, instead of using his handlers to make unfounded claims against the defunct government of Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola.

Some days ago, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Mr Sunday Bisi, accused the government of Oyetola of misappropriating N3bn paid by the government of Oyo State for the cessation of the co-ownership of LAUTECH. Bisi also made some unsavoury remarks regarding the establishment and funding of University of Ilesa (UNILESA). However, we will focus on LAUTECH for now.

Ordinarily, we would have ignored the tantrums and political imbecility of Sunday Bisi, having known the drunken sailor as one whose thinking faculty is usually enslaved by the wicked demons in green bottles. But, the fear that the unsuspecting public may be misled by his falsehood has made it imperative for us to set the record straight.

The process that culminated in the dissolution of co-ownership of LAUTECH was transparent and in good faith. The government of Oyetola had to succumb to reality of allowing the decision of sole ownership settled once and for all for the mutual good of both states and the stakeholders in the citadel of learning.

LAUTECH, recall, was established in 1990 by the government of old Oyo State led by Colonel Adedeji Oresanya. Following the creation of Osun State from Oyo in 1991, the two states chose to jointly run the institution to further solidify their bond. And the institution was run to the admiration of enthusiasts of good education. For many years, it was ranked among the best 10 universities in Nigeria. Regrettably, the prestige and quality, for which the university was known in its first 15 years of existence, began to wane when it suffered lack of cooperation and irregular subventions from the two-owner states. The institution became notorious for incessant strike actions. In the midst of the chaos, the state government of Oyo mooted the idea of sole ownership of the institution; but Osun would not tolerate the divorce. Osun wanted the marriage blossom in spite the administrative difficulties, financial challenges and political inconveniences and interferences experienced by the institution. The contending propositions became heated and continued to distort smooth operation of the university.

Notwithstanding the disadvantage Osun suffered in the arrangement, the state continued to cling to the abusive marriage. Whereas the institution had a College of Medicine in Osogbo, most of the university’s key facilities were sited in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. For example, the Faculty of Pharmacy, which was expected to be in the College of Medicine, Osogbo, was sited in Ogbomoso. Equally the N3bn TETFUND Grant accessed by the university was used primarily and wholly for projects domiciled in Ogbomoso. None was extended to its campus in Osogbo!

Oyo continued to benefit immensely from the economic advantages of having the main campus of the university in its domain, including being the beneficiary of PAYE tax of over 3,000 workers of the university. Meanwhile the yearly financial commitment of Osun to the university hovered around N2.4bn.

When Governor Oyetola came to the saddle in November 2018, he wanted to clear the debt owed to the university by the previous government and keep a clean record. He paid the subventions covering the period he stayed in office appropriately and in full. But it became literally impossible for the state to hold on to the ownership as its counterpart from Oyo was no longer interested in the co-ownership.

In November 2019, another proposal came for the dissolution of the institution. A tripartite negotiation committee, comprising the representatives of NUC, Oyo and Osun states, was set up to address the breakup. A renowned auditing firm, Deloitte and Touche, was engaged to audit the institution’s liabilities, fixed and currents assets.

The Deloitte’s forensic report, covering 1990 – 2019, indicated Oyo owed the university N4bn and Osun, under the administrations before Oyetola’s, N8.2bn. It was then resolved that the university should be ceded to Oyo but not without compensation and firm assurances of protecting the interest of Osun indigenes in the employment of the institution. Besides the Osun based assets which were alloted to the state, Osun was also entitled to N16.2bn cash. The state subsequently was left with N8bn after her debt of N8.2bn was knocked off the total cash compensation.

On 20 January 2021, the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) announced the approval of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for the payment of the outstanding N8bn to Osun State in the following instalments: N1bn to be paid in January 2021, another N1bn in December 2021 while N3bn would be paid in December 2022 and the remaining N3bn be paid in 2023. That was how the joint ownership of Ladoke Akintola University was brought to an end.

The intention of the Oyetola government was to reinvest the refund to develop the legacy teaching hospital in Osogbo, UNIOSUN and UNILESA. Sadly, this noble design could not see the light of the day before the eclipse of the administration. Strangely, the profligates who inherited the refund domiciled in Wema Bank and also received another N5bn in December 2022 and 2023 are the ones now using their megaphones to propagate misinformation and cast aspersion on patriotic administrators.

Coincidentally, the incumbent accountant general of the state, Mr Olalere Alabi, was actively involved in the transactions. Therefore, he should be directed to disclose details of the receipts and appropriation of the refund. Was it ploughed back to develop the tertiary institutions in the state, or it was part of the N3bn used for purchase of 20 units of Landcruiser Jeep for the office of Governor Adeleke? It is Governor Adeleke that needs to prove that the N8bn inherited and received by his administration has been judiciously used, not the other way round.