From Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela, yesterday said the management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, has acceded to call by the two owner states of Oyo and Osun, to audit the institution’s account in order to resolve the university’s crisis.
Prof. Olowofela, during a radio programme on Impact Business Radio in Ibadan, disclosed that the audit firm, KPMG report, would be completed tomorrow.
The commissioner said talks were ongoing between the two states to resolve the crisis and added that the auditing firm’s report would fast track the process.
Speaking on reasons for the crisis, the commissioner said there were some intricacies involved in the matter of LAUTECH.
According to him, “the position of Osun government, a co-owner state, was that if Osun State University, established 12 years ago, can be self-financing, LAUTECH that has been established over 20 ago should be self-financing as well, especially now that there is dwindling allocation to states from the Federal Government.”
Olowofela said to show the seriousness of both state governments towards the institution, the two governments in January 2017 committed N292 million each to solve the immediate problem of the school while they later jointly approved the audit of the school by KPMG.
He also added that, between 2011 and 2017, Oyo government spent 10.2 billion on LAUTECH University, N8.3 billion on LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso and N3.7 billion on LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Oshogbo in Osun State.
Olowofela said if the state government was not serious about issue of LAUTECH, it would not have spent a whopping N22 billion on the institution.