President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the managements of Nigerian tertiary institutions and lecturers for the corruption in the system.
Buhari said the institutions’ managements mismanage the internally generated revenue (IGR) and create room for pay-roll padding or ghost workers.
The Vice Chancellors are the Chief Executive Officers of the universities; they run the institutions.
The President accused some lecturers of engaging in unwholesome practices such as taking up full time appointments in more than one academic institution and admission racketeering.
Buhari said corruption has continued to undermine investments in the education sector while critics downplay funding by focusing only on budgetary allocations.
The President spoke on Tuesday in Abuja when he declared open the Fourth National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector at the State House.
The summit was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Office of Secretary to Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Buhari expressed concern on the manifestation of various forms of corruption in the education sector.
According to him, “Government and stakeholders in the educational sector are concerned about the manifestation of various forms of corruption in the education sector.
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“I am aware that students in our universities for example, use different terminologies to describe different forms of corruption they experience on our campuses. There is sorting or cash for marks/grades, sex for marks, sex for grade alterations, examination malpractice, and so on.
“Sexual harassment has assumed an alarming proportion. Other forms of corruption include pay-roll padding or ghost workers, lecturers taking up full time appointments in more than one academic institution, including private institutions, lecturers writing seminar papers, projects and dissertations for students for a fee, and admission racketeering, to mention only the most glaring corrupt practices.”
The President commended the ICPC for investigating and prosecuting lecturers for sexual harassment.
Buhari described sexual harassment as abuse of power in educational institutions.
“I approve and encourage them to continue to do so,” he noted.
Buhari noted that measuring financing of education sector should include total education budget of each year by both federal and state budgets and other financial commitments in their totality.
“Incessant strikes especially by unions in the tertiary education often imply that government is grossly underfunding education, but I must say that corruption in the education system from basic level to the tertiary level has been undermining our investment in the sector and those who go on prolonged strikes on flimsy reasons are no less complicit.
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“The 1999 Constitution places a premium on education by placing it on the Concurrent List, thereby laying the responsibilities of budgeting and underwriting qualitative education on both the Federal and State Governments.
“The total education budget for each year is therefore a reflection of both federal and state budgets and should be viewed other financial commitments in their totality,” he said.
The President assured that the government will continue to fund education within realistically available revenue, urging stakeholders, including the media to equally advocate for transparency in the amount generated as internally generated revenue by educational institutions and how such funds are expended.
“Corruption in the expenditure of internally generated revenue of tertiary institutions is a matter that has strangely not received the attention of stakeholders in tertiary education, including unions.
“I call on stakeholders to demand accountability in the administration of academic institutions and for unions to interrogate the bloated personnel and recurrent expenditure of their institutions. Let me also implore the Unions to work with government to put faces and identities to names on the payroll,” the President added.
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