LAUTECH: Osun Govt Releases N1bn Counterpart Fund

In his bid to fulfill his statutory obligations on Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has released the sum of N1bilion as take-off and subvention fund to the management of the institution who are currently on industrial action.

The workers of the institution had been on strike in the last 8moths protesting non-funding of the university by the two owner governments of Oyo and Osun states.

According to an impeccable source at the office of the Chief of Staff to Governor Aregbesola, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the fund was released to the school’s account in fulfilment of  Aregbesola’s promise made two weeks ago when the chairman of the institution’s Governing Council, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi submitted the interim report of the KPMG audit report to him.

It was learned that the fund will serve as take-off fund to facilitate quick resumption of both teaching and non-teaching staffs of the institution who had embarked on strike over the months.

LAUTECH has been enmeshed in pocket of crisis following the resolve ‎of the university’s lecturers to go on strike.

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However, available information sourced from the Oyo State Accountant General’s office confirmed that Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has approved the immediate release of N500million counterpart subvention, while the remaining grant of additional N500million from Oyo State Government would be transferred in the coming weeks.

As such, there are clear indications that normal academic activities will be restored into the troubled university in the coming days.

Another in-house source affirmed that a strong petition written by concerned stakeholders of the LAUTECH project have been received by the two owner state governments to only pay for the four months services rendered by the workers of the institution instead of the entire eight to nine months the university has been on strike.

All efforts to get a copy of the petition proved abortive as at the time of filing this report but a dependable source who wants to remain anonymous said the petitioner wrote the petition that it will be unjustifiable for the Governing Council to pay for the 12months salaries the workers of the institution are allegedly claiming since they were on strike for about 9 months, saying the petitioner allegedly called on the two owner states to invoke no work no pay rule on the workers of the institution.