Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, has said that, if care is not taken, the reason for the establishment of TETFund would soon be defeated.
He said the growing number of benefiting institutions without corresponding increase in the number of tax collection, will significantly affect its annual disbursement to benefitting institutions for infrastructural development, scholarships, and other interventions.
He accused some states government of establishing new universities with no concrete funding mechanism, but with total reliance on financial interventions from TETFund.
Bogoro who spoke at an expanded meeting with heads of public tertiary institutions in Nigeria, in Abuja, disclosed that he will be meeting with Governors Forum soon to discuss the issue.
He promised to disclose more details to the governors and also find a way to strengthen the impact of TETFund on Nigeria higher educational system.
Acting Chairman of TETFund Board of Trustees, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, disclosed at the meeting, that TETFund recorded the highest number of benefitting institutions in 2019 due to the increase in the number of institutions.
He appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his support, and also the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for their effort and challenged them to strengthen their tax systems so that more people can come into the net.
Meanwhile, President Buhari has approved N208 billion as 2019 TETFund intervention l activities, in accordance with the provisions of the TETFund Act 2011.
To this end, each public university in Nigeria will get N862, 684, 392.00; Polytechnic gets N566, 701,842.00; and College of Education will get N542, 22, 346.00.
In 2018, N161billion was disbursed, and each public university got N785,832,700.00; Polytechnic got N536,703,502.00; and College of Education got N510,084,900.00.