Six days after shut down, OAU senate still under seal
NEWSDIGEST has confirmed earlier today that Obafemi Awolowo University’s senate building, the offices of the principal officers, is yet to be opened despite the defiant response of the university on the alleged unpaid N1.8bn tax to Osun state government.
According to the Press release issued by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olanrewaju, the report of Osun state’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is erroneous and false.
Against the claims of 1.8bn naira back duty owing to under-deduction of salaries by the State Internal Revenue Service to the Press, “the University asserted that if there had been under-deduction at all, only the sum of N287 million was the amount by which PAYE was under-deducted from staff salaries.
The University Administration added that “although parties were reconciling their different figures, negotiations could not be concluded on account of the last national strike of the non-teaching staff of universities which was only called off in April this year.”
While explaining the background of the issue, it was stated that the Osun State Government, in a letter through the Governor to the President of the Federation, had reported the matter.
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“It was then directed to the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. Both the Osun State Government Tax Authorities and the University officers attended the PICA session where the matter was resolved.”
“The Accountant General of the Federation, after examining the claim of the Osun IRS and that of the University, by a letter reference number INV/0089/844/II dated January 19, 2018, returned the verdict that the University’s outstanding Tax liabilities was a sum of N384 million only.”
“Parties agreed to this conclusion, and the recommendation that this sum could be paid at the monthly installment of N5 million. It is therefore with total shock that the University community woke up on Wednesday, 2nd May, 2018 to find the University Main Gate as well the University Secretariat sealed up by the Osun State Government.”
Moreover, the Vice-Chancellor of the University has assured that the matter would be resolved without delay.
However, a worker of the university, who sought anonymity, made it known that a meeting, aimed at getting the Senate building opened by 12pm today, is still on.
Calls put across to the officers of the university have not been responded to, while all efforts to reach the IRS officials proved abortive too as the contact details published on their website is out of reach.
It should be recalled that this newspaper reported the closure of the institution by Osun state government on the 2nd of May.
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