Reps Caution Noun Against Extra-budgetary Spending

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has warned the National Open University of Nigeria against spending money not appropriated by the National Assembly.

The chairman of the committee, Abubakar Fulata, said this, on Tuesday in Abuja, when the committee visited NOUN.

Fulata said the lawmakers would not shy away from performing their oversight functions with a view to ensuring transparency and accountability in the system.

He said university management, like some government organisations, could generate revenue internally and get grants from donor agencies

He, however, said, 'Spending the money without regard to appropriation laws is an infraction.'

'Budget proposal by the Federal Government universities must be approved by the National Assembly, and doing anything otherwise is illegal and unconstitutional.'

Fulata also called for the proper utilisation of funds in the university for the sake of sustainable growth and development of the country.

Responding, the Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof Olufemi Peters, commended the committee for the visit and promised to provide relevant pieces of information and documents requested by the legislators.

He said the visit of the lawmakers opened the eyes of the university authorities to certain areas of their services they needed to improve on.