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Commission Asks VC, Federal University, Otuoke To Refund Millions Of Naira Excess Salaries

Federal-University-OtuokeThe National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, has directed the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Otuoke in Bayelsa State, Professor Mobolaji Aluko to refund over-payment of salaries running into millions of Naira.
The Registrar of the university, David Suowari, was also directed to refund cumulatively the sum of N130,692.71 per month in excess of his due salary.
The over-payments were said to have been discovered during the commission’s visit to the institution on May 12, 2015 to carry out inspection of FUO’s remuneration practices vis-a-vis the extant government’s pay policy.
The VC and the Registrar were accused of appropriating certain allowances to themselves that were not approved by the government.
These concerns were raised in a letter from NSIWC to Aluko, signed for the Chairman of the Commission by the Director of Compensation, Chike Ogbechie.
The commission said: “The findings of the inspection in respect of your institution (Federal University, Otuoke) were as follows
The Vice-Chancellor was being paid total emoluments of N1,970,476.76 monthly, whereas he should not earn more than N922,810.23.
On the other hand, the commission said the Registrar was being paid N130,692.71 in excess of his due salary of N502,580.25.
The commission also said the university disaggregated its staff salaries, against government’s policy of pay consolidation.
The NSIWC, therefore, directed the university to stop “the wrongful practices.
“We hereby direct the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar to refund the cumulative over-payments made to them.”
However in reaction to the commission’s position, Aluko said that there was neither disaggregation of salaries nor overpayment of salaries.
The Vice-Chancellor said: “Rather, pension and health insurance allowances were due to three of us, Diaspora Vice-Chancellors who are on Sabbatical from our foreign universities, and co-paid monthly in Naira to us for payment to those foreign universities.
“Without that concession occurring, our own local salaries would have been wiped out completely and we could not have accepted the job.”
Aluko wondered why the issue was coming up in the fifth and final year of their tenure.[myad]