Row over PTA levy at FGC Daura

However, Musa in a petition, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Trust, wondered why the PTA levy at the college is taken more important than the school fees itself to the extent that a child can be rejected for his parent’s inability to pay the levy. Consequent upon that, the petition added, he […]

However, Musa in a petition, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Trust, wondered why the PTA levy at the college is taken more important than the school fees itself to the extent that a child can be rejected for his parent’s inability to pay the levy.
Consequent upon that, the petition added, he went further into the expenses of the PTA in order to ascertain whether or not the money collected from parents by the association was spent judiciously.
The petitioner said that what caused him concern the most about the level of financial indiscipline perpetuated by the PTA was the purchase of a Peugeot car which, he alleged, cost the association N1,468,000.
He also accused the school authority and the PTA leadership of indulging in several acts of financial mismanagement that are not in conformity with what is expected of them.
Musa threatened to go to court and seek redress over the alleged rejection of his ward and the compulsory PTA levy.
Also, some of the PTA documents obtained by Daily Trust have shown that the association raked in N8,742,219 from December 2013 to date and expended N8,170,084 leaving a balance of only N572,132 in the association’s account.
According to the documents, some of the expenses incurred within the period included purchase of the controversial Peugeot 806 car which was donated to the school and presently used by the principal, three different payments for a VIP toilet amounting to N2,549,740.
Others were renovation and painting of dining hall at the cost of N580,420 and another renovation work which seemed similar and captured as payment for dining hall renovation at N275,020. There was also a payment for an insurance called GTPP to one Mr. Ahmed Sani amounting to N752,000.
As obtains in other schools, the association draws its membership from parents of wards and teachers of the school who meet at intervals to elect officials to run its affairs including assisting in running the schools from levies collected from parents.
The N5,000 PTA’s charges, Daily Trust gathered, have raised serious concern among parents as to how the monies collected from them are expended by the association.
But when confronted over allegation of enforcing the payment of PTA levy by the school management, the principal, Mrs. R.Y Audu, disassociated herself from the matter, saying that PTA fees are solely affairs of the PTA but the school authority only encourages parents to see the need to pay fees.
She said it will be inappropriate for her and management of the school to confront the PTA over the donation of the car, noting that “if someone gives you something how can you be asking him how much he bought it; all you need to do is to appreciate and use it.”
However, the PTA Chairman Alhaji Barau Musa said the document containing the expenses of the PTA might have been doctored to serve an interest, as according to him, the expenditure should have been a purchase of a Peugeot 806 and other items, saying that “the omission of other items purchased by the association must be a handiwork of mischief makers that wanted to tarnish the image of the executives.
But when probed further to expatiate on the ‘other items’ the chairman said it will have to take the exco to reach a stand on that.
However he said: “It is a known fact that any car imported from Benin, Cotonuo, must be charged with custom duty and other charges which include payment of drivers fare, toll fees amongst others.
“The price you are seeing definitely comprises all these charges. There is nothing fishy about the car purchase. I wonder why an aggrieved person would choose to go public with his complain instead of channeling it to the PTA,” he lamented.
On the PTA levy, he said it was a collective decision reached at a congress of the PTA where it was adopted that all parents must pay the sum of N5,000 per child, saying that there is nothing unusual about it as all schools collect such fees to assist in solving some pressing issues peculiar to them.
According to him, this is the first time the school was introducing PTA levy since it commenced operation, saying that “it was a unanimous one after seeing that out of the 104 unity colleges ours was not charging it.”
He noted that the PTA has not issued a directives that wards should be rejected for failing to come up with the fees, saying that there are persons that have not even paid the school fees and are still studying at the college.
However, a car dealer, Idris Abdullahi, when approached over a purchase of the same type of car, told our reporter that at most the cost of the car should not have been more than N850,000 inclusive of all custom duty and drivers’ fares.
Now that the matter is generating suspicion among the parties involved, the petitioner has promised to follow the matter to a logical conclusion so as to clear the air about the allegation of misappropriation of funds by the PTA.