The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N320.3 billion for the 2023 intervention for public tertiary institutions. Under the 2023 intervention cycle, each university will receive N1,154,732,133.00, polytechnics will receive N699,344,867.00, and each college of education would get N800,862,602.
However, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, commended the government for releasing the funds but requested the redistribution of the funds to ensure that 90% of the total funds goes to tertiary institutions.
Osodeke expressed concerns over the allocation of about N1.2 billion to universities and others, which accounts for just about N186 billion of the total allocated funds of about N320 billion, leaving a balance of N132 billion unaccounted for. He questioned how the balance of N132 billion, which is 41% of the total amount of money, is being used.
According to Osodeke, the original idea behind TETFund, as negotiated by ASUU, was to distribute the funds to universities, not keep 41% for other purposes. He called for the redistribution of the funds to ensure that 90% goes to universities and polytechnics and not kept as bureaucracy or for other purposes.
Additionally, Osodeke lamented that since calling off its nine-month strike, the government has not called ASUU for any meeting, and most of the issues that caused the strike are still unresolved.
Channels TV
