The Nigerian Senate has asked the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo,  Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo to recover N635.7 million overpaid to the staff of the institution in 2017.

Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Edo South led Senate Committee on Public Accounts to the decision, relying on the 2017 Auditor General of the Federation’s report to uncover the overpayment to the staff of the Institution.

The Auditor General’s report of 2017  which is currently being considered by the Senate has alleged that the Management of the University under-deducted Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Tax totalling ₦635,700,792.65 from staff salaries and emoluments of workers in 2017.

In his response, the Vice-Chancellor claimed that the Akwa Ibom Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS) who is the relevant tax authority and who regularly does tax audit has not made any claim against the University for much bogus amount, adding that the total sum of N87.4 million was paid as tax in that same year.

On his part, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Urhoghide rejected the explanation of the Vice-Chancellor and ordered the management of the Institution to refund the N635 million to Akwa Ibom Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS).

The query read, “Finance Treasury Circular No. TRY/A1 & B1/2009 OAGF/CAD/026/V/12 dated 19th January 2009 emphasized the correct and complete deduction of VAT, WHT and PAYE and remittance of same to the Relevant Tax Authority. Paragraph VI of the Circular states that any violation of the directive will be regarded as gross misconduct and shall attract commensurate disciplinary action.

“During the periodic check, it was observed that the Management of the University under-deducted Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Tax totalling ₦635,700,792.65 from staff salaries and emoluments of workers in 2017.

“Additionally, records of the amounts of PAYE that ought to have been remitted to the relevant Tax Authority were not produced for Audit. As a result, government revenue totalling ₦635,700,792.65 was lost, while staff were overpaid in the same amount.

“This may lead to loss of Government revenues, which will impact on its ability to execute projects that will benefit the citizens.

“The Vice-Chancellor is required to recover the under deducted tax (PAYE) in the sum of ₦635,700,792.65 and remit to the appropriate State Internal Revenue Board and forward the evidence of recovery and remittance to my Office.”

An official of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) has hinted at the possibility of the union embarking on an indefinite strike any moment from March.

This is as another universities workers’ union- National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Nigerian government to either meet its demands or be faced with a two-week warning strike.

The leadership of NAAT also threatened that if the government failed to accede to its request after the expiration of the two-week strike, the union would embark on an indefinite strike.

Meanwhile, the ongoing one-month warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has entered its 13th day, may not be called off before the one month declared elapses as the conciliation efforts have yielded no fruitful gains yet.

On Thursday, through the Joint Action Committee (JAC), both SSANU and NASU issued a directive to all their branches to be “red alert” for a possible showdown with the government.

Speaking on Saturday, the national vice president of SSANU, Abdussobur Salaam, said the Nigerian government has failed to implement any of the eight items in the agreement it signed with the union in February, 2021.

According to Salam, none of the implementation timelines exceeded three months, saying if the government was committed to the agreement, the whole issues would have been resolved “latest by July, 2021.”

He said: “There was a memorandum of understanding that was reached with an agreement. Everything has a timeline. There was no timeline there that exceeded three months. The government cannot deny that we have not been writing letters on renegotiations.”

The official said despite multiple letters addressed to the government and visits to the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, there have been no responses “apart from promises that have not translated into anything for our members”

Salam added that Parts of the items in the said agreement is the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, payment of earned allowances, usurpation on non-academic career positions by vice-chancellors, inclusion of university staff school into the university community, non-payment of minimum wage arrears, and funding of state universities.

He said university vice-chancellors have continued to defy a court order declaring that the teachers of universities’ staff schools are integral members of the university community.

He added that the government has only paid less than N8 billion of the N30 billion it agreed upon.
He said: “The memorandum of understanding we had was that the renegotiation will be concluded within six weeks. And that was as far back as February, 2021. And if you count six weeks from that time we will be talking about sometime in May or maybe April. But here we are, a year later, we have not even been invited for one meeting despite our reminders.

“The issue of our earned allowances of N30 billion which we agreed should be paid to the three non-teaching staff unions of SSANU, NASU and NAAT is also there.

At the end of the day what the government did was to pay a sum of N22 billion and then allocate 25 per cent of that, which is less than N8 billion to the three unions. So, at the end of the day, that has also caused a lot of grievance on campuses.

“Also, for an act that was signed for national minimum wage in 2018, there are still arrears not yet paid by the universities. And on the usurpation of non-teaching staff functions by academic staff, we have situations where the condition of service, an established position in various universities is being upturned by vice-chancellors and by the governing councils. And you now have positions that are career positions of our members being subverted by academic staff. So, these are the issues that we have brought forward.”

Salaam further said that despite a court order directing that teachers of universities staff schools should be seen and treated as integral members of the university community, “we still find a situation where vice-chancellors have continued to treat our members with a lot of contempt in defiance of the court order.”

“We also have the issue of funding and allocation to state universities. And the understanding we got from the National Universities Commission was that there would be a stakeholder’s meeting with all proprietors of state universities, that is the state governors, with a view to discussing the issue of funding of state universities. It was clearly and explicitly stated,” he added.

He said due to reduced subventions, some universities cannot pay salaries for as much as seven months.
He further queried: “We keep asking ourselves that when accreditation exercises are being conducted, why do they focus on facilities in the universities and not the major component of production, which is the workforce?”

Reacting to the labour minister’s claim that the unions were yet to formally notify him of any strike, Salaam said the unions were still consulting their various organs.

“Until we finalise with the organs, we would not tell the minister of a certain date,” he said, adding that; “But we have written a letter to let the government know that we cannot be blamed if we go ahead with the strike action.”

He said the unions will be done with consultations “within the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, addressing a briefing in Abuja on Friday, the NAAT president, Ibeji Nwokoma, said each branch of the association would hold congresses between March 15 and 16 to appraise the government’s response to the demands placed before it.

Nwokoma said a two-week warning strike would be declared on March 17, 2022 at the expiration of the two week grace if there is no favourable feedback from the government.

All-African Students Union (AASU) has called on governments on the continent to tackle the high rate of insecurity in Africa so as to boost students’ enrolment into higher institutions of learning.

President of the Union, Osisiogu Osikenyi made the call in Abuja, on Saturday, at the presentation of awards to some deserving Nigerians in the education sector.

The event was organised by La HEGJ University, Benin Republic, in Collaboration with the West Africa Students Union (WASU).

Osikenyi, while noting the effect of insecurity on education, said the menace was “very disturbing” calling on hands to be on deck to tackle it across Africa.

“Aside incessant industrial actions by most African universities, we also have insecurity keeping millions of prospective students out of school.

“It has become very important that this thing was looked into holistically,” he said.

He further said that education was becoming increasingly expensive in Africa with the cost always getting high “and of course the economy is not getting better.

“Parents are not able to send their children to school as they ought to,” he said.

On the ongoing strike by Nigerian Universities, Osikenyi said that such an action must be addressed by adequate budgetary provisions.

“We are calling on all African governments to put enough funds into education in their countries,” Osikenyi said.

Also, President WASU, Romans Pullah decried that “much attention has not been given to education in Africa.

“If you look at the way education is handled, in terms of sponsorship and appropriation, one would say there is no attention given to that sector.”

Chairman of the occasion, Rep. Danladi Baido (Ardo-kola, Lau, Karim-Lamido) said that education financing across Africa “is inadequate”.

Baido, who was represented by his Special Assistant Media and Political Strategy, Nelson Wilson, called on government at all levels to prioritise education for a better society.

Earlier, the Convener, Hope Daniel said that the award was bestowed on Dr Peter Adejoh, Chief Executive Officer, Camey and Rock Holdings, Abuja, for his track record of support to indigent students.

“Adejoh has supported education and sponsored a large number of students,” he said.

Registrar of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Tosan Erhabor, has advised 78 graduates of the Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State who were inducted into the council yesterday to remain diligent and focused in the performance of their duties despite the prevailing challenging situations in the country.

Erhabor expressed the readiness of the council to continue to collaborate with Babcock University to further energise its Department of Medical Laboratory Science with additional top class faculty members.

He stated that the council would work with relevant stakeholders to improve the standards of medical laboratory science training in Nigeria in line with international best practices.

The registrar said: “The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria is delighted to associate with the university and its landmark achievements in galvanising 78 students for the induction ceremony and also for being one of the flagship universities in South Western Nigeria.”

The Vice Chancellor of the Babcock University, Professor Ademola Tayo, advised the inductees to set the needs of their patients before that of the system, saying that they would be rewarded someday if they do that.

“Always remember that people will look up to you, respect what you do and say. People will trust you, confide in you, and appreciate your efforts. You can do exceptional things for people if you don’t let the system weigh you down,” Tayo said.

He advised them that collaboration with other professionals would be critical to their success.

“Your job requires you to collaborate very closely with physicians and medical laboratory technicians in diagnosing and monitoring disease processes, as well as monitoring the effectiveness of therapy,” the vice chancellor said.

He also advised them to understand their work environment, since they are going to work in places that would be different from the typical classroom setting.

In his remarks, the Head of Department of Medical Laboratory Science of Babcock University, Professor Ihongbe, encouraged the inductees to interact with people and adopt the core values of Babcock University in their attitude at all times, noting that humility pays.

He also urged them to always remember their parents who have invested massively in their education.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, Professor Philemon Amanze, urged the grandaunts to take the qualities of wisdom, efficiency and resilience they have imbibed in the university with them, adding that they should embrace life with passion and keep reaching for greater heights in order to make the world a better place.

“Believe in yourselves as Babcock believes in you. It is certain that you will become competent, diligent and trustworthy professionals,” he said.

The Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun, Delta State, matriculates 1267 students into the 2021/2022 academic session.

In a bid to ensure that the newly matriculated students do not engage in addictions that could affect their studies, the school therefore warned the students against involving themselves in any form of social vices.

Speaking during the matriculation ceremony,  Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Henry Adimula, said that the school had zero-tolerance for cultism, drug abuse and other social vices, and would sanction any of its students found wanting.

“We advise all students to desist from the following vices: examination misconduct, physical and all forms of assault, cultism, drug peddling and smoking of Indian hemp on campus, certificate forgery, improper dressing, for exposure of body parts, stealing, misuse of social media and many others. Let me sound a note of warning that any student found guilty in any of the vices would be made to face the full wrath of the law,” he warned.

While congratulating the matriculated students, Adimula disclosed that “a total of 1,480 candidates applied for admission into the National Diploma programmes but only 720 candidates were offered admission and for Higher National Diploma, 714 applied and only 547 candidates were admitted”.

The Principal and CEO said PTI had trained over 20,000 Nigerians and non Nigerians, who are doing very well in every facet of the oil, gas and allied industries in the country and the world over.

Adimula, who was flanked by members of the council of the Institute, urged the matriculating students to maximise available resources which abound in the school to their advantage, saying the management would integrate e-learning platforms with the actual modules to further mitigate COVID-19 limitations.

While admonishing the matriculants to be good ambassadors in and outside the school, he enjoined them to take a cue from alumni such as Dr. Celestine Paddy Iyamu, Dr. Excel Ukpohor and Comrade Festus Osifo, the current President of PENGSSAN, who graduated at various times and are now very successful in their chosen careers.