SERAP urges Buhari to recover ‘missing N105.7b’ from MDAs for funding of varsities

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently recover “missing N105.7 billion” of public funds from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to fund the Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions, improve welfare of staff members and ensure the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) returns to class without further delay.

The group also implored the Nigerian leader to redirect some of the Presidency’s budget of N3.6 billion on feeding and travels, as well as the N134 billion allocated to the National Assembly in the 2022 budget to meet lecturers’ demands.

ASUU has consistently accused government of lacking commitment to payment of academic earned allowances, poor funding of universities, continued implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System and alleged refusal to adopt the Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), among others.