…Squanders 4trn Without Appropriation
…100 lawyers, 1,000 CSOs set for court battles, massive protest
- …Sack ES tetfund now, says CSOs
By Dauda Isamail
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, originally established as Education Trust Fund, ETF, by the Act No 7 of 1993 as amended by Act No 40 of 1998 (now repealed and replaced with Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act 2011), is an intervention agency set up to provide supplementary support to all level of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of Tertiary Education in Nigeria.
The main source of income available to the Fund is the two percent education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. The Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS, assesses collects the tax on behalf of the Fund. Despite being funded by taxpayers money, the agency has repeatedly been enmeshed in financial misappropriation scandals.
But successive administrations have been fraught with allegations of financial impropriety.
In the latest scandal, a group of 100 lawyers and about 1,000 Civil Society Organisation, CSOs say they are set for court battle and a massive protest as they called for the sack of the Executive Secretary, ES of TETFUND,
Sunday Sylva Togo Echono, OON, who assumed office in 2022.
In a petition dated October 14, and addressed to the Senate President, His Excellency, Senator Goodwill Akpabio, and Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Tajudeen Abass, titled: TETFUND’S ILLEGAL BUDGET PRACTICES: A RECIPE FOR ANARCHY, CSOS DEMAND SENATE ACTION OR FACE LEGAL AND PUBLIC RESISTANCE, members of The Trusfield Empowerment Initiatives, representing over 300 civil society organisations across Nigeria, highlighted the unconstitutional and illegal financial operations of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund TETFUND, which has consistently refused to submit its budget for appropriation by the National Assembly for the past ten years.
The petition read: “As enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the powers of the National Assembly extend to scrutinizing, overseeing, and approving the budgets of all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, of the Federal Government, including TETFUND. However, TETFUND has systematically failed to comply with this constitutional requirement, relying on misinterpretations of the TETFUND Act to avoid budgetary scrutiny. This petition seeks to correct this illegality, hold TETFUND accountable, and ensure that taxpayer funds are utilized transparently and effectively.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), explicitly outlines the responsibilities of the National Assembly in matters of financial oversight and appropriation. Section 80 of the Constitution provides that:
“All revenues or other monies raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other monies payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.”
The petitioners further pointed out that Section 81 mandates that the President must submit estimates of the expenditure of the federation year, which means that no expenditure can be made from any public fund unless it has been authorised by the National Assembly through appropriation.
They stated further: “TETFUND, as a government agency, falls under this constitutional obligation. Therefore, its failure to submit its budget for appropriation by the National Assembly for the last 10 years is a direct violation of this constitutional requirement.
“TETFUND has frequently cited Section 7(3) of the TETFUND Act as a justification for not submitting its budget for National Assembly appropriation. The section states that:
“The Board of Trustees shall administer and disburse the amount in the Fund to Federal and State Tertiary Institutions for the general improvement of education in Nigeria.”
They added that TETFUND has deliberately misinterpreted the word “administer” as a legal shield against budget appropriation by the National Assembly. However, a thorough examination of the TETFUND Act reveals that “administering” funds refers to the distribution and management of funds, not the exclusion of TETFUND from submitting to the oversight and appropriation authority of the National Assembly.
The petition further pointed Section 7(1) of the TETFUND Act which states: “The Fund shall consist of: (a) money disbursed to the Fund from the National Budget; (b) such money as may be received by the Fund from taxation, levies, gifts, and donations; (c) any other money that may be lawfully made available to the Fund.”
They added: “This section clearly outlines the sources of funding for TETFUND, which primarily includes allocations from the National Budget, contributions from taxation and levies, as well as any donations or gifts.”
The petition pointed out Section 7(2),
Section 7(3), Section 7(3) which TETFUND under the current leadership wilfully and deliberately flouted.
The petitioners then sent a warning to the Federal Ministry of Education thus: “We urge the Minister of Education and other relevant authorities to take immediate action. It is their duty to ensure that TETFUND operates within the legal framework and does not misuse its privileged position. The continued silence on this matter not only reflects negligence but also allows for misappropriation of public funds.’
Findings by AljazirahNigeria Newspapers revealed that in the last ten years, TETFUND has not submitted its budget for legislative appropriation, which is a clear breach of constitutional requirements as outlined in Section 80 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria which states that, “No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”
Therefore, TETFUND by not presenting its budget for approval has not only sidestepped the National Assembly’s approved oversight but has also failed to provide scrutiny on how public funds are utilized, violating both the spirit and letter of the Constitution.
Speaking to this medium, Umaru Usman , National Coordinator of Youths United for Governance and Accountability said: “It is disheartening that for over a decade, the National Assembly has allowed TETFUND to operate outside the legal framework for financial oversight. By failing to compel TETFUND to submit its budget for appropriation, the National Assembly has unwittingly endorsed the misuse of public funds, allowing taxpayer money to be spent without proper scrutiny.
“It is the statutory duty of the National Assembly to safeguard public funds by ensuring that all MDAs, including TETFUND, submit their budgets for examination and approval. The current situation represents a serious indictment on the National Assembly, which has allowed an institution handling billions of naira annually to spend public funds without legislative oversight.”
According to the petitioners, “It is worth noting that other Federal Government agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, regularly submit their budgets for appropriation, despite receiving substantial allocations.
“Other government agencies, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, all receive allocations from special funds but still submit their budgets for National Assembly appropriation. It is, therefore, unacceptable that TETFUND, which controls substantial public funds, should continue to operate without similar oversight.”
They then demanded this: “In light of the gravity of these issues, we, as representatives of The Trusfield Empowerment Initiatives and over 300 civil society organizations, put forth the following seven demands:
“1. Immediate Suspension of All Unappropriated Expenditure: No expenditure shall be made by TETFUND henceforth without prior appropriation by the National Assembly.
- Submission of Previous Budgets: We demand copies of TETFUND’s budgets for the last ten years for thorough investigation. TETFUND must submit copies of its budgets for the past 10 years to the National Assembly and Nigerians for review and investigation.
“3. Audited Report: An independent audited report of TETFUND’s financial activities for the past 10 years must be made available for public scrutiny.
“4. Senate and House Committee Meetings on TETFUND: Reports and resolutions from the Senate Committee on Education and the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education regarding any discussions on TETFUND’s budgets must be provided.
“5. Investigation of Former TETFUND Heads: A comprehensive probe must be conducted into the activities of all former heads of TETFUND, with the aim of identifying and prosecuting any cases of corruption or mismanagement.
“6. 2025 TETFUND Budget: The 2025 budget of TETFUND must not be accepted by the National Assembly until the above issues are fully resolved, and all illegalities are corrected.
“7. Accountability: TETFUND must be held accountable for the mismanagement of funds over the past decade, and those responsible for any financial irregularities must be prosecuted.”
The petitioners then issued a 7-day notice for the immediate compliance with the above demands, and that they would take all necessary legal steps, including but not limited to filing a court case to compel the agency and the National Assembly to correct these illegalities. Furthermore, we will mobilize nationwide protests to draw attention to the gross abuse of taxpayers’ funds.
An independent project assessment and evaluation tour conducted by AljazirahNigeria Newspapers across tertiary institutions in Nigeria showed that available projects fall short of expectations based on its funding. In a report that will be published soon, AljazirahNigeria shall chronicle project by project performance and financial cost in 17 tertiary institutions. The projects do not meet procurement standards and guidelines.
A ranking member of the National Assembly equally spoke to this medium about the poor quality of projects executed across tertiary institutions, and that although Arch Echono had been invited on a number of occasions, he has so far refused to honour such invitations but rather send other staff to represent him.
According to Barrister Joshua Ibimina, “I am surprised at how a laudable Federal Government initiative intended to benefit and ease the learning process for students across the country has continued to be marred in financial misappropriations.
“I think if the relevant government institutions saddled with the responsibility of oversight lives up to their expectations, we would see a better TETFUND committed it’s ideals.”
In like manner, another legal practitioner, Margaret Ibidun said: “Without enforcement, the existence of laws is a farce. I think if our laws are and have been enforced, successive heads of TETFUND would have avoided these scandals.
“I therefore call on the National Assembly to ensure it carries out its oversight function with renewed commitment as this would make not only TETFUND, but other government agencies to better respect the Constitution.”
It would be recalled that this is not the first time that TETFUND has been enmeshed in corruption allegations. This is despite the fact that agency has repeatedly distanced itself from such allegations. For instance, earlier in April, following a report by Premium Times detailing the controversial award of a N3.8 billion contract by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, arrested the agency’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Gloria Olotu.
Senior officials at the anti-graft agency had said that Mrs Olotu, the Director of Human Resources and General Administration at TETFUND, Kolapo Okunola, and the agency’s Director of Information Communication Technology, ICT, Joseph Odo, were also invited for questioning at that time.
In TETFUND’s response to Project 20 Million dated 16-10-2024, it stated that, “It has become expedient to inform you that Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is an intervention agency established to provide supplementary support to all levels of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of Tertiary Education in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The sole source of funding is the three percent (3%) Education Tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. The funds accruing to the TETFund are neither from the “national budget” nor “levies, gifts and donations” as erroneously stated in your letter.
“Furthermore, it is trite to mention that as enshrined in Section 7(5) of the TETFund Act 2011, only the President can approve the disbursement (budget) of the tax collected to all public tertiary institutions on recommendation of the Board of Trustees and the Honorable Minister of Education respectively. It follows therefore that the “disbursement of funds (budget)” is not appropriated by the National Assembly, on the strength of the provision of the TETFund Act 2011.
“Finally, it is pertinent to state that the Sections quoted in your letter are totally incorrect and false fabrication that have no bearing with the TETFund Act 2011. Specifically, Section 7(1)(2)(3) as juxtaposed with the original TETFund Act bears no resemblance or congruency.
“It is shocking that an Organization claiming to represent over 300 Million Civil Society Organisations will engage in such fallacious voyage and quoting fictitious sections of a subsisting law of the land. (Enclosed is a copy of the TETFund Act 2011 for guidance).”
It then advised that Project 20 million to peruse the TETFund website for accurate information and better understanding of the operations and activities of the Fund at www.tetfund.gov.ng.
From the Late Mal Tijani Ahmed Abubakar who served the then ETF from January 1994 to September 1999; Mal Mustapha Abba Jaji, mini who served from September 1999 to August 2007; Professor Mamood Ya kunu, the current chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, From August 2007 to August 2012; Mal Aliyu Na’Iya, September 2012 to April 2014; Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro, April 2014 to February 2016: Mal Aliyu Na’Iya who came back to serve from February to July 2016; Dr Abdullahi B. Baffa from August 2016 to January 2019; .then Professor Suleiman Bogoro who returned to serve from January 2019 to March 2022, and Arc Sonny S T Echono who took over in March 2022 and is still in office, TETFund hasn’t lived up to its expectations as critics, the media and concerned Nigerians have repeatedly exposed scandal after scandal.
TETFUND had in 2021 reported on its website that the Federal Government had through TETFund, injected over N2.5 trillion in the development of infrastructure and staff development in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria in the last 10 years of establishing the Fund.
In 2022, Arch Echono, had said each University will get the sum of N642,848,138.00, while N396,780,086.00 goes to each Polytechnic and N447,758,804.00 to each College of Education in the approved 2022 interventions for beneficiary institutions across the country.
N320 Billion Intervention Budget Fully Allocated to Beneficiary. While in 2024,
President Tinubu approved
N683 billion for TETFUND.
.
