The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has called on vice chancellors and management teams of federal universities to ensure that available resources are properly managed and utilised for the development of their institutions.
The committee stressed that accountability and prudent handling of public funds were essential to improving universities and strengthening the country’s education sector.
The Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Fulata, made the appeal on Friday during an oversight visit to federal universities across the South-East geopolitical zone to evaluate their performance and assess the implementation of the 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts.
Fulata explained that the exercise was part of the lawmakers’ constitutional mandate, aimed at examining how allocated funds had been spent by the institutions ahead of considerations for subsequent budget proposals.
He said, “Ordinarily, we should be in our various constituencies campaigning for our re-election in January 2027, but we have to leave our respective states to carry out this constitutional and mandatory responsibility of oversight.”
According to him, the visits would enable members of the committee to obtain firsthand information about the financial and operational activities of the universities while identifying areas where government intervention was necessary.
He emphasised that the oversight exercise was not designed to intimidate university administrators or witch-hunt any institution but to promote transparency, accountability and value for public expenditure.
However, the committee chairman expressed concern over the absence of the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Ugochukwu Anyaehie, and his counterpart at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, during the visits to their respective institutions.
Fulata also criticised the failure of both universities to make available relevant documents outlining their recent administrative and financial activities for the committee’s assessment.
He noted that the absence of the vice chancellors and the failure to provide the necessary records prevented the lawmakers from obtaining a complete picture of the institutions’ operations.
Meanwhile, the committee expressed concern about the poor condition of the access road leading to the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, calling on the Imo State Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to take urgent steps to rehabilitate it.
The Vice Chancellor of FUTO, Prof. Ikechukwu Dozie, had drawn attention to the deteriorating road connecting the university with neighbouring communities, as well as cases of land encroachment affecting the institution. He appealed to the committee to intervene and help attract the attention of relevant government authorities to the challenges.
At Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Stella Lemchi, sought government assistance to tackle infrastructure and operational difficulties arising from the institution’s transition to a federal university.
Lemchi highlighted the need for additional lecture theatres and academic buildings, better road infrastructure, erosion control measures, stable electricity supply and renewable energy facilities. She also identified inadequate accommodation for students and staff as an issue requiring attention.
The vice chancellor further appealed for improved student welfare services and investment in healthcare and emergency response facilities, particularly a properly equipped university medical centre.
Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu, Prof. John Emiamo, disclosed that the institution urgently required government support to address shortages of academic and non-academic personnel, medical and dental equipment, classrooms, auditoriums, laboratory buildings and essential laboratory equipment.
Other institutions visited by the committee included Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State; David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi State; and the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, Aba, Abia State.
The oversight exercise is expected to provide the committee with an opportunity to evaluate infrastructure, staffing levels, teaching and research facilities, as well as the implementation of budgetary allocations across the institutions.
The findings from the visits are expected to guide the committee’s engagements with relevant government agencies and inform decisions on future budgetary allocations to federal universities.
