The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has said that the current slash in the monthly subvention to Ekiti State University (EKSU) was a temporary measure occasioned by the nationwide financial challenges.
Dr Fayemi made the clarification on Friday in Ado Ekiti when a delegation of the University’s Governing Council led by it’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Prof. Bamitale Omole paid a courtesy visit to the Governor’s Office.
The Governor explained that would be reviewed as the state’s finances improve.
He said payment of the backlog of subvention will be considered but urged the management to harness other possible ways of generating funds for the university.
The Governor while reacting to the encroachment challenges faced by the institution said government will call a meeting with the land owners in a bid to find solution to the challenges and probably pay compensation since the university has the statutory papers.
Dr Fayemi said his administration would continue to focus more on basic education, stressing that the numeracy and literacy learnt at the basic level were the basis for effective tertiary education. He explained that that was the reason basic education was made free and compulsory by his administration.
He urged the University to find ways of saving resources especially in the areas of blocking leakages at the Bursary department through the automation system they have put in place.
The Governor also advised the University community to look inward using their various initiatives and innovation to support the subvention coming from the State Government.
The Governor said, “We have not reduced the subvention of the University, the subvention had been caught in a nation-wide challenge, as I am sure you all know that NNPC has not remitted money to the federation account in the last three to four months. So, what we had already planned at the beginning of 2021 budget has been caught in that web and as much as we tried to increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) at the state level, we have not been able to meet our obligation which is what has been responsible for emergency reduction in the subvention, but it’s not a permanent reduction”
Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Prof. Bamitale Omole commended the various impactful achievements of the Governor in the University.
While assuring the Governor that the EKSU Governing Council will not derail from working in line with the administration’s education roadmap, Prof Omole made a case for an upward review and payment of the backlogs of the institution’s subvention, and government intervention in the encroachment challenges it faces on a daily basis concerning its lands.
