Revealed: Panel Uncovers LAUTECH’s 97 Bank Accounts Deal

The Visitation Panel report submitted to the two owner-states of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) at Ogbomoso has uncovered 97 different bank accounts operated by the management of the institution.

The discovery has called to question the integrity of the handlers of the institution that goes contrary to the directive of both owners, Oyo and Osun, that LAUTECH should maintain a Single Treasury Account (TSA) to promote transparency.

The report, it was learnt, also revealed that majority of the banks had closed shop due to either restructuring, merger or delisting by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The states said they released N13.626 billion in subventions, excluding Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), to the institution between 2011 and 2016.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela, spoke at the weekend in Ibadan, the state capital, while receiving the state executives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The commissioner said part of the recommendations of the visitation panel, led by a legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun, was that the accounts of the school and its workforce must be audited.

He said: “We are not too comfortable with the accounting process or procedure of the institution. That is the least we can say now.

“Part of the recommendations of the visitation panel was that the accounts of the school must be audited; not only the accounts but the workforce too must be audited such that we look at the best practices on how to run this particular institution.

“The bursary departments still rely on analogue mode of operation with its attendant challenges and risks.

“When the government said you must have a single account, in that visitation panel’s report, you have various accounts. If you have various accounts, you have not been accused of any financial difficulty, but we must know the truth so that at the end of the day, we will know whether something is wrong with the management, administration or the accounting process.

“The visitation panel observed that the university opened 97 different bank accounts in almost all the commercial banks in the country. Some of the banks have closed shop due to restructuring, merger or outright delisting by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”