The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has insisted that its report on personnel budget padding in academic and health institutions, was based on verifiable fact.
The commission was referring to the allegations by University of Ibadan’s, UI, bursar, Dr. Michael Alatise of “unverified claims”, with reference to the inclusion of the institution as one of the academic institutions that padded its personnel cost.
However, in a statement by the Spokesperson of the commission, Rasheedat Okoduwa and made available to journalists, ICPC said its study was evidence-based.
“To debunk the bursar’s claim, the commission hereby states that acting on its corruption prevention powers at Section 6(b-d) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, it carried out in 2019, an evidence-based study of the practices and procedures of the utilization of personnel cost in institutions of higher learning.
“Preliminary findings from the study revealed “gross abuse of personnel budget and inflation or padding of the nominal roll” by some institutions, including University of Ibadan.
“The chairman of the commission, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, made this fact known publicly at the summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector held in November 2019. The position of the commission was based on incontrovertible evidence gathered from the study.
“The public should note that the commission, being guided by professionalism in its processes, ensures that its operational conclusions are based on verifiable fact,” the statement read.
The Commission also debunked an online report allegedly by The Guardian newspaper of February 11, 2020 titled, “Ibadan varsity bursar refutes ICPC’s claim on auditor’s blindness”.
In the alleged report, the Bursar of the University of Ibadan, Dr. Michael Alatise was quoted to have said the Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye made “unverified claims about University of Ibadan”.
The commission however noted that, “First, the story’s caption is misleading as nowhere in the report did the bursar attribute the story about the auditor’s blindness to ICPC.
“The commission does not make offensive remarks about personalities and nowhere did it make any such reference to the University of Ibadan auditor, past or present. A social media slant on the work of the commission independently linked the report of ICPC on personnel budget padding in academic and health institutions to the auditor’s visual disability.
“The commission has no control over how the public will interpret its stories, therefore it is unfair of the news report to ascribe this linkage to the commission.
“Second, within the context of the report, the commission understood the bursar’s allegation of “unverified claims” to be with reference to the inclusion of University of Ibadan, as one of the academic institutions that padded its personnel cost,” Okoduwa stated.
