CORRUPTION, ABUSE OF OFFICE AND NEPOTISM ROCK FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, ZARIA

... Petitioners Call for Urgent Probe of Finances, Staffing; VC Bunkure Yet to Respond

The Federal University of Education, Zaria {FUEDZ} is facing allegations of financial impropriety, abuse of office and nepotism, with petitioners urging the Federal Government and anti-graft agencies to intervene.

The Federal University of Education Zaria which was upgraded to a University level recently by Late President Muhammadu Buhari is one of the oldest institutions in Nigeria which started as a Teachers Institution known as Advanced Teachers College also affiliated to the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, as time goes it was transformed from ATC to the Federal College of Education and now possess a university standard.

Professor Yahaya Isah Bunkure goes by his track records and achievements as Provost in the Saadatu Rimi College of Education Kano was appointed as its pioneer Vice Chancellor about ten months ago. It is understood that before the appointment of Professor Bunkure the now established University has enmeshed in serious financial scandals where schools fees are being paid without accountability by the Bursary department. It's known that some of the staff of the Micro Finance bank are being used by the then Acting VC in committing fraudulent spendings of the University funds, both the procurement and Bursary department are answerable and controlled by the then acting VC which necessitated several petitions in both EFCC and ICPC whereby staffs of both offices still reporting to the Anti graft agencies.

Further information available revealed that over one Billion monthly allocated to the university the sum of over eight hundred million is being used for staff salary while the balance of about two hundred million is being diverted by the Bursary Department by conniving with some principal officers of the university and Professor Bunkure's inability and laxity to detect or put a stop to the financial impropriety taking place which poses a serious risk to his office being the Chief Executive Officer of the university. People in both the university and other education institutions are contemplating the integrity and credibility of Professor Bunkure for being unprofessional and incompetent in handling the affairs of the university effectively despite his vast experience in the education sector.

Further information averred that the Pension, NHIS and Mortgage contributions have not been remitted to the affected agencies for several months. The said atrocities have been committed long before the present Vice Chancellor was appointed but even after he took the mantle of leadership there is no improvement and nothing has changed. There is no substantive Registrar and Bursar in the University, the officials occupying the two sensitive offices are only overseers which violate the public service and administrative rules. It's not certain whether the VC is aware of the fraud that has been committed in the institute but this is a wake up call for him to be up and doing in transforming the newly established University and do away with all corrupt officials to enable him work with  honesty, transparency and accountability. 

His track records and achievements in his previous place of work necessitated his appointment as the Vice Chancellor of FUED. He should therefore repose the confidence and trust given to him to get rid of corrupt and incompetent officials who are using their Godfathers to perpetrate their shady deals as well as victimizing potential staff in the discharge of their primary responsibilities in the university. Professor Bunkure should take note that there are people around him that are working tirelessly to sabotage his efforts by positively transforming the Institution.

 Information further averred that staff of the university have not paid their hazard allowances for quite a long time and there is enough funds to do so but few officials continue misleading him. The so-called yet to be assigned Bursar alongside the so-called Registrar have connived and conspired by stealing huge funds with the pretence of buying stationery materials worth about twenty to thirty million with or without the consent of the Vice Chancellor. It has become imperative for the VC to immediately investigate these atrocities committed by few officials in the university. 

The trick and conspiracy used by the Bursar and Registrar was to use the Cash Advance File to steal huge funds through their errand boys. In the Bursary office there are  two male officials who are accomplice to whatever financial impropriety been committed while in the yet to be assigned Registrars office one female and one male are the accomplices who are assisting him in committing the heinous financial fraud using several banks accounts. It's noted that the sum of over nine hundred thousand plus is being unauthorized withdrawn, the tricks applied by the staff working for both the so called Bursar Alhaji Kabiru Aliyu and so called Registrar Alhaji Iya Sa'idu was to give the impression that the money is less than one million to avoid bringing the VC's attention to the ongoing fraud. They have been withdrawing the said amount at different times amounting to twenty to thirty million naira monthly with the pretence of buying stationery. If really the VC Professor Yahaya Isah Bunkure is willing to fight corruption he should as soon as possible get rid of corrupt and incompetent officials who are sabotaging his efforts to move and transform the newly established University and he should call for a file in the Busrar known as (CASH ADVANCE FILE) getting this file as well the Head of the Payroll would help in a long way to detect the financial fraud perpetrated the two senior officials of the university with the connivance of Consultancy services and the Academic planning department.

Information further revealed that the fraud in the Bursary Department has been committed even before the present Vice Chancellor Professor Yahaya Isah Bunkure was appointed as the Head of the University but he has refused to thoroughly checkmate the activities of the Department as well as overhauling it for transparency and accountability to reflect which gave room to the officials continuing their atrocities. There are officials still occupying sensitive positions in the university who are not competent and doesn't possess the technical skills and know how in handling the positions given to them. Issues of insurbodination is becoming the order of the day because there are very senior officials that are still working under their junior ones,  the Godfather syndrome has taken over the system completely and it has posed a serious danger to the progress of the university.

Before compilation of this story discreet information available to one of our reporters revealed that there are two different petitions submitted either at the ICPC or EFCC office regarding the financial impropriety taking place in the Federal University of Education Zaria under the watch of Professor Yahaya Isah Bunkure and we have been able to recover some documents attached to the fraud but it is not certain if the university has been contacted officially on the matter but the university management under Professor Yahaya Isah Bunkure should act decisively to deal with all the fraudulent allegations taking place within the university which they perpetrators know to be called "The FUED Cabals and they are doing whatever that is possible to bring the VC down so that you woefully fail as the university pioneer Vice Chancellor.