Universities to get N30b revitalisation fund next week, Ngige says
Modupe Shodeinde
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has disclosed that from next week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will begin the disbursement of the N30 billion revitalisation fund set aside for varsities by the Federal Government.
The minister in Abuja yesterday, said the Federal Government deposited the N30 billion with the CBN in January.
He explained that the fund was not immediately disbursed because the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) committee needed to evaluate the audit reports of the universities.
The audit report is on how each university utilised previous disbursements.
“The report has been turned in, deliberated upon and the Education Ministry and the NUC have promised to write to the Accountant General of the Federation next week for the release of the money to the NEEDS Special Account for onward disbursement to universities shortly,” Ngige said.
He explained that apart from the N40 billion Earned Allowance, which the Federal Government has already paid, the Budget Office had shown evidence that N22 billion Earned Allowances for 2021 was already captured in the 2021 supplementary budget.
Ngige while addressing newsmen at the end of a closed-door meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday in Abuja said it was successful.
The meeting aimed at evaluating the implementation of the Memorandum of Action entered into by the parties.
Ngige said that the meeting evaluated seven key issues with both parties expressing satisfaction with the implementation stages, adding that “work is in progress”.
He said some of the items in the MOA were nearly done 100 per cent within the timeline.
He added that the National Information Technology Development Agency was directed to expedite action on the integrity test on the University Transparency Accountability Solution.
”If successful, it will eliminate the challenges posed by the peculiarities of the university system to the current payment platform,” he said
On the proliferation of state universities, the minister said: “A Bill has been sent to the National Assembly by the NUC to strengthen its arms in terms of delisting universities where funding and other parameters are inadequate.”
ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting and promised that the union would reach out to its members.
