The Visitation Panel to the Taraba State University, (TSU), has recommended that an investigation be conducted to ascertain the financial management of the institution.
Taraba State governor Dr. Agbu Kefas assigned the visitation panel with the responsibility of assessing the University’s performance and submitting recommendations for improvement.
In a chart with journalists in Jalingo shortly after making the report available to the governor, the panel who frowned at the way and manner the institution is being run, recommended that due process be followed for transparency and accountability.
Led by its chairman, Dr. Josiah Kente, the panel raised alarm at the alleged lack of transparency in the recruitment process of staff at the university, the situation which according to the panel “led to an imbalance in staff composition.
“only 609 staff make up the academic staff across faculties and departments while 1,819 occupy the non-academic staff unit of the Institution.”
Piqued by the development, the panel as stated by Kente, recommended that recruitment should be immediately conducted for more academic staff to be employed in compliance with the National University Commission’s guidelines to address the situation.
They also called for the immediate expansion of staff development programmes to enhance the skills of both the academic and non-academic staff in the school.
The panel also raised the alarm on the caliber of people appointed as the governing council of the institution, stating that the panel noticed that “the governing council of the University lacks relevant qualifications and management experience, which resulted in internal governance discrepancies.
The panel who also announced that they “noticed that the university occasionally bypasses NUC’s guidelines, thereby jeopardizing programmes in the school” said they “had also discovered irregularities regarding the financial management of the Institution including statutory allocation and the internally generated revenue, which are not in compliance with appropriate regulations.”
“In addressing the ills confronting the institution, an investigation, as recommended by the panel, should be conducted to ascertain the financial management of the Institution while recommending that due process be followed for transparency and accountability.”
On his part, the governor who expressed happiness on the committee’s report, promised to take decisive action regarding the outcome of the recommendations of the report.
He vowed that he will not hesitate to bring to book any person indicted and found guilty of any wrongdoing from the management of the institution.