We’ve deposited N200bn varsity funds in CBN – FG

Federal Government says it has deposited the N200bn promised as funding to universities in an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, confirmed this on Tuesday.

The amount is for renewal of infrastructure in the nation’s public universities.

Okupe, who featured on Channels Television programme ‘Sunrise Daily,’ said from the government’s perspective, everything that needed to be done had been done.

According to him, many of the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities have been agreed upon at the 13-hour meeting the union had with President Goodluck Jonathan which ended in the early hours of October 4.

“At the end of that meeting, the government proposed that everything that has been agreed should be put in a Memorandum of Understanding and that the two parties should sign. But the leadership of ASUU declined and said instead of that, they would rather have a letter expressing everything that has been resolved therein, and that will suffice for them.”

Okupe stressed that the attitude of the ASUU leadership showed that the seed of discord and evidence of bad faith already existed.

“It is unfortunate that somebody died but notwithstanding, that cannot be a justification for delaying the implementation of an agreement for 21 or more days.

At a briefing in Abuja, Okojie, who also said the money had been deposited in CBN, noted that the Coordinating Minister of Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had confirmed to him that the money had been deposited in the CBN.

ASUU had requested  evidence that the money had been released as a condition to suspend the strike.

Okojie, who claimed that ASUU did not seek clarification from the commission, however said, such money could not be distributed directly to universities.

“You don’t disburse such funds to institutions; it is not earned allowance. The minister of finance said since they opened the account, the money had been deposited there. If there was any doubt, NUC is here they (ASUU) could have asked the question,” he said. Read more