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Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Michael Adeyemo on Monday disclosed that the House disagreed with Governor Abiola Ajimobi, on some decisions taken with regards to funding Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, and other state owned higher insitutions
Adeyemo said that even though the state government announced that it was cutting subventions to state owned higher institutions to 25 per cent, the House retained the 100 per cent budgetary allocations to the schools.
The lawmaker spoke on Community Today, an online TV current affairs programme of CEO Africa.
The speaker disclosed further that the lawmakers however noticed that there was a communication gap between the government and the institutions as some of the institutions have not been accountable in the amount of money they generate.
According to Adeyemo, when the LAUTECH crisis got to a head, the government insisted on basing its decisions on the report of the visitation panel it set up, ut the House was of the view that immediate steps should be taken to down pressure.
His words: “We spent so much time discussing LAUTECH. The executive wanted the visitation panel to conclude its assignment but we wanted a paliative measure put in place. We are glad the governor understood our position then and he did everything he could to ensure that academic activities resumed until the crisis broke out again.
Adeyemo regretted that Osun State, a joint owner of the institution with Oyo state, have not been forthcoming in its responsibilities to the university. He said Governor Ajimobi’s hands are tied because of the joint ownership.
“The governor had made moves to take a sole decision for the school but the supreme court ruled that he must work in line with the conditions of the joint ownership
Funding of institutions
The speaker disclosed that in the budget, the house retained 100 per cent subvention figures even though the government cut it to 25 per cent.
He said: “We passed a resolution opposing that decision but you know, parliamentary resolutions are not binding on the executive. But we retained 100 per cent for the schools. Government has said it wants to know what the financial books of the institutions look like especially in terms of the fees they collect. That is understandable. We believe that if an agreement is reached, it will be off”.