Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State has released N472 million to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo State, and the institution’s Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, reports Daily Sun.
The breakdown of the amount showed that while N250million goes to the university, N222million would go to the Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, for payment of salaries.
This came barely a week after the inauguration of a five-man panel to negotiate Osun State’s rights and privileges in the joint ownership of the institutions with Oyo State.
It would be recalled that the governors of the two owner states, Seyi Makinde of Oyo and Oyetola of Osun met in Abuja two weeks ago at the instance of the Chairman of the university’s Governing Council, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, to chart a way forward for the university over the funding crisis rocking the institutions.
Part of the understanding reached at the meeting was the setting up of a 10-man committee, five from each state, to examine all the issues surrounding the joint ownership agreements and proffer lasting solutions to the crisis.
In a letter addressed to the chairman of the university’s council and signed by the Osun State Commissioner for Finance, Bola Oyebamiji, the Osun governor noted that the release of the fund was in line with the earlier agreement reached at a meeting in Abuja between him and Governor Makinde on the need to guarantee financial stability and sustainability of the institution.
The letter reads in part: “I wish to inform you that the State Government of Osun has paid the sum of N250,000,000.00 to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso in line with the agreement earlier reached by Governors Gboyega Oyetola of Osun and Seyi Makinde of Oyo (the two owner states) in Abuja to ensure financial stability and sustainability of the institution.
“It is also worthy of note that the State Government of Osun has released the sum of N222, 000,000.00 to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo for payment salaries which brings the total funds released to the university to N472, 000, 000.00 only.”