The Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife, Professor Idowu Bamitale Omole, has been fingered in attempts to cover up the misappropriation of N15million and another N177million belonging to the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IART).
The allegation exclusively obtained by Pointblanknews is contained in report by None Academic Staff Union of IART which is under the direct supervision of the OAU. The report was jointly signed by the institute’s NASU Chairman, Oladeinde Femi; NASU’s Secretary, Oshadiya Adewumi; and the Treasurer, Oladiji Babatunde.
According to NASU, the N15million was allegedly spent on crop harvesting, while the sum of N177,371,609.50 was transferred from the Institute’s account as Hazard allowance and kept in a secret account by the Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede and the Chief Accountant, Mr. Z. K. Tejumola.
The allegation against the Vice Chancellor is an offshoot of an eight-month crisis within the agric institute which has resulted in the allegations against the Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede of misappropriating the institute’s funds.
However, NASU has alleged that Prof Omole, who is Chairman of the Governing Council of IART, has jettisoned far reaching recommendations made by two separate panels which had investigated the matter and indicted the Director of the Institute.
While calling on the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to intervene in the matter, they also revealed that the crisis has resulted in the loss of two staff while some are hospitalized because the Director bluntly refused to pay staff salary which he has received to date since December 2012.
The report read “the staff of IAR&T through their unions (NASU, SSANU, NAAT) hereby brings to your notice, their disappointments and pains about how the Vice Chancellor, OAU is handling the lingering crisis in IAR&T.
“The crisis has resulted to loss of two staff while some are hospitalized because the Director bluntly refused to pay staff salary which he has received to date since December 2012.
“For the benefit of doubt, please note that the crisis started about eight months ago (precisely on June 11th, 2012) when the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) discovered some documents showing the claim of the management to have paid the sum of N177, 571,609.50 as Hazard Allowance to staff of the Institute on 27th December, 2010 whereas not a single staff of the Institute was paid any amount as the said Hazard Allowance.
“Among other allegations are: (i) Claim of the use of N15million for harvesting of crops produced by the Institute whereas Our investigation revealed just about
N800,000.00 was spent on crop production activities by the Institute during the year
2010 when the Director claimed that this huge amount was spent.
“(ii) Disbursement of fund for transaction without reference to the Audit Section for verification prior with Post-Auditing assuming the order of the day under his tenure.
“(iii) The discovery that the Director made himself the Principal Signatory to the Institute’s Account contrary to the Charter that stipulates the Head of Account Section as the Principal Signatory to the Institute’s Account.
“(iv) Non-payment of approved allowances to staff which include first 28 days allowance totransferred staff and newly appointed staff, Nonpayment of hazard allowance as approved by the council of the University (O. A. U.) through a Council decision extract R/DCA/C/ST2010 OF 13th December, 2010 and for which there is documented evidence that money has been collected from the Federal Government by the Institute.
“(v) Non compliance with Federal Government policy/O. A. U. Council decision onregularization (staffing) of casual workers.”
NASU further noted after various attempts at settling the matter failed, two supervisory agencies to the Institute, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife and the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) were invited to intervene.
The Vice Chancellor, OAU (Prof. Tale Omole) and the Executive Director ARCN (Prof. B. Y. Abubakar) set up two separate panels which sat and concluded their assignments between October and December 2012.
“It is worth noting that the Vice Chancellor OAU is the chairman of the Governing Board of the Institute and is empowered to appoint, discipline and remove the Director” they added.
According to NASU some of the findings of the two panels was that the sum of N303,130,935 was released to the Institute in November, 2010 and N303,130,934 in December, 2010 totaling N606,261,870.00 for payment of salaries, arrears and salary shortfalls.
The ARCN Panel according to NASU also “found that of the two releases, the sum of N177,571,609.50 (One Hundred and Seventy Seven Million, Five Hundred and Seventy One Thousand, Six Hundred and Nine Naira and Fifty Kobo) was fraudulently posted into the Institute’s Cash Book as payment of Hazard Allowance while in reality, this amount was actually transferred to the IAR&T Staff Club Account (which is a non-statutory account) as staff deductions”.
It was further discovered that the Director with the connivance of the Chief Accountant did not pay any hazard allowance.
NASU also stated that the OAU Panel opined that the allegation of impropriety relating to the sum of N177,371,609.50 has been established and the refusal of the Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede and Mr. Z. K. Tejumola, the Chief Accountant to furnish the Panel information with regard to the account and Bank the N177,371,609.50 was lodged are imperative for necessary cross-checking of withdrawals from the account, and tracking how it was spent. “In the absence of these documents, transaction relating to the
N177,371,609.50 is not transparent.”
They continued “the explanations offered by the Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede and Mr. Z.K. Tejumola, the Chief Accountant, on how the money was spent is therefore unbelievable as withdrawals from the account cannot be independently verified by the Panel.
The panel further queried the refusal to supply information on the account and Bank where the money was kept by both the Director and the Chief Accountant adding if the transfer of the money was actually done for the reason they claimed, why the secrecy and refusal to disclose these vital facts to the Panel when given the opportunity?”
According to NASU, the committee set up by the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife as Chairman of the Governing Board of the IAR&T recommended that there should ensure full compliance with the provisions of the Charter of the Institute in the administration particularly in respect of its accounting systems.
“The entire Accounts Unit of the IAR&T should be overhauled and that the Vice Chancellor should set up a Disciplinary Panel to look into the acts of impropriety and misappropriation of the IAR&T’s fund particularly the sum of N15million allegedly spent on crop harvesting, the sum of N177,371,609.50 transferred from the Institute’s account as Hazard allowance and kept in a secret account by the Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede and the Chief Accountant, Mr. Z. K.
Tejumola.
“The issue of how the sum of N2million paid to Mr. C. O. Adenose as arrears of salary despite the fact that his current position as Accountant I was by appointment backdated by one month should be looked into by the Disciplinary Panel.
“The Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede, the Chief Accountant, Mr. Z. K. Tejumola, and Mr. C. O. Adenose, Accountant I in the Accounts Unit, should be made to appear before the Disciplinary Panel for the role they played in the acts of impropriety and misappropriation of the Institute’s fund.
“The Director, Professor B. A. Ogunbodede, the Chief Accountant, Mr. Z. K. Tejumola, and Mr. C. O. Adenose, Accountant I in the Accounts Unit, should be ordered to proceed on leave pending the decision of the Disciplinary Panel.
“The Disciplinary Panel should ensure that the entire Institute’s funds misappropriated are refunded.
“The Executive Director of IAR&T should always carry the management team of the Institute along in the decision making process for the Institute.”
In same vein, ARCN Panel recommended that the Executive Director, be disciplined in accordance with PSR 030406;
“That this report be submitted to relevant government agencies for further investigation; and or that these findings be brought to the ED’s attention in a preliminary letter so as to obtain a written response which would then be documented to enable management take decision.
“Management is invited to consider and approve”
NASU however wondered why the recommendations as proposed by the panel set up by the Vice Chancellor was jettisoned adding that that decision is “premeditated attempt to subvert justice and harmful for the system and counterproductive to the effort at fighting corruption at every facet of our national life.”
They said “the decision of the VC (see attached) to jettison the report of the panel he set up and indeed that of the other Supervisory Agency (ARCN) before which Staff Unions (including ASUU) appeared and made submissions for an unsolicited report from two other panels (Accountant General’s Office and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) which are absolutely unknown to the Unions is a major concern.
“The VC’s management decision shows that it is possible to be corrupt and still remain in office once you are connected to people in power.
“Furthermore, it is obvious that the report of the Panel from the Accountant General’s Office lacks merit as it claimed that the Staff have been paid the contentious Hazard Allowance totaling N177,571,609.50 whereas no staff received the Hazard Allowance.
“This points to the fact that the Panel did not conduct any investigation.
Even at this, the Union is disturbed that the Vice Chancellor did not see as grievous, the indictment of the Director (Prof. B. A. Ogunbodede) for virement by the Panel from the Accountant General Office as regards the sum of the N15million transferred from the Personnel Cost Account for the claimed harvesting despite the fact that the Panel recommended that the amount ‘be refunded to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) by the Institute or deducted from their future allocations’.
“Moreover another team came from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Institute after the Minister for Agriculture saw the report of the supervisory agency(ARCN) and ordered the earlier report which was smuggled to O.A.U and which the VC said he received by DHL should be reversed.”
NASU however demanded that the recommendations of the panel should be implemented for the sake of justice.

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