The present administration in Ekiti State has expended over N8 billion on the funding of State owned tertiary institutions in the last two and half years, the State Governor, Engr. Segun Oni has said.

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale  Ojo-Lanre said in a statement that Governor Oni, who made this known in Ado-Ekiti while playing host to the Founder, Pro-Chancellor and other Principal officers of the Afe Babalola University said the amount surpasses the N7.5billion expended on the same tertiary institutions by previous administrations in the state  during a period of 11 years.

Oni assured that his administration would continue to properly fund state-owned tertiary institutions despite the recent approval granted for the establishment of the University of Science and Technology, Ifaki-Ekiti (USTI), which becomes the third state-owned university in Ekiti.

He said that his administration has the character of openness and accountability and providing the necessary financial backing for educational institutions in the state noting that the establishment of two new tertiary institutions in the state would go along way in solving the manpower needs of the state.

The Governor, who stressed that the presence of world class tertiary institutions in the state would foster the building of a corridor where the best scholars in the world could come and impart knowledge noted that the ivory towers in the State would fast-track the process of retuning Ekiti back to its rightful position as the leading State in the area of education in Nigeria.

While noting that his administration would   support the Afe Babalola University to help it realise its dreams of becoming the best University in Nigeria and the African continent, Governor Oni urged the newly appointed principal officers of the University to bring their enormous reputation of experience and competence to bear on the new university. Earlier, the Visitor and Chancellor of the University, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) disclosed that the Council for Legal Education in Nigeria had approved the Law Programme of the university, adding that the first set students of the tertiary institution would formally arrive the campus on January 4, 2010.

He noted that he had approved the appointment of the distinguished University Don and current Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University’s Governing Council.