Abubakar Fulata, the chairman of the house of representatives committee on university education.
The house of representatives committee on university education has decried non-compliance with federal character in the appointment of workers and admission of students in universities in the country.
In a statement on Thursday, Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), chairman of the committee, called for a halt to the trend.
Fulata said the committee observed the trend during its oversight visit to some universities in the south-west geo-political zone.
He listed the institutions visited to include Federal University of Technology, Akure; Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and University of Ibadan, among others.
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The lawmaker said, irrespective of location, there is no reason for any university not to adhere to the federal character principles in terms of appointment, recruitment of employees and admission of students.
“We have observed that many universities are not complying with the federal character principles in appointment and employment of workers, even in admission of students,” he said.
“The Act Establishing Federal Character Commission is very clear on this aspect. 2.7 per cent equity share of each state of the federation, 1 per cent for Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and 3 per cent for the state where the institution is located, but there is no semblance of this in most universities today.”
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The chairman urged the management team of universities not to abuse the law allowing professors to stay in service until 70 years of age.
He noted that it was disturbing to see the name of an employee of a university born in 1958 who is neither a lecturer, nor a librarian in the staff nominal roll.
The chairman said any member of the non-teaching staff who has attained the compulsory retirement age in service should be allowed to retire.
Fulata explained that the oversight visit was a constitutional responsibility that sought to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability in the system.
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He cautioned against spending huge amount of money on travels, entertainments and other items at the detriment of educational goals and objectives in the university, saying this was unacceptable.
The lawmaker warned against suppression of figures, underreporting of internally-generated revenue, mis-presentation, and irreconcilable entries.
