The Federal Government has stated that it has paid the N20 billion NEEDS implementation monies to universities who had completed the application process for the funds. Speaking to journalists via telephone, Special Assistant (Media) to the Supervising Minister of Education, Simeon Nwakaudu said that contrary to claims by ASUU that first quarter payments had not been paid, the government was already making preparations for disbursement for recipients in the second quarter.
He said, “How can ASUU claim nothing has been released to the universities, ASUU is not the one implementing the NEEDS, the actual implementation has been left in the hands of the universities themselves”.
However ASUU President, Nasir Fagge said he was not aware of any such payments, and that the Implementation Monitoring Committee formed to monitor the agreement made at the tail end of the strike would be meeting within the week to deliberate on the matter.
Fagge said, “People are quick to blame ASUU but we as a union always give government ample opportunity to prove themselves in such cases.
“I will be in a much better stand to brief you on this issue after the implementation monitoring committee which some of us are part of meets this week,” he added.
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie, said the funds disbursed under the NEEDS programme would be closely monitored by the Office of the Accountant General.
On the manner of disbursement, Okojie stated, “If 50 per cent of the funds is given, until the institutions retire that, before they can get another. If the university does not retire how it used the 50 per cent, it cannot get another”.