DAILY TRUST
Again, some lawmakers in the National Assembly have set up a bribery scheme targeting federal universities and other tertiary institutions in the country.
PREMIUM TIMES can report that lawmakers are using intimidation and threats to force the heads of universities to pay N8 million each to approve their allocations in the 2025 budgets.
This newspaper’s investigation revealed that the extortion scheme involves senators and members of the House of Representatives. The lawmakers, operating through the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund and the House Committee on University Education, are demanding money from universities to approve their budgets.
Using an elaborate and complex system created by the lawmakers, 60 federal university vice chancellors are required to pay N8 million each (N4 million each to Senate and House Committees).
The lawmakers are expecting N480 million from the extortion, and they have assigned two vice chancellors from the North Central and North West geopolitical zones to coordinate the payments to avoid detection.
In December 2024, President Bola Tinubu presented the federal budget to a joint session of the National Assembly. Committees of the National Assembly are currently conducting budget defence sessions, with various ministries, departments, and agencies appearing before the relevant committees to justify their proposals.
Over the years, there have been consistent allegations of bribery involving lawmakers and the insertion of projects into the budget.
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