The House of Representatives has vowed to address the challenges preventing Nigerian tertiary institutions from accessing the substantial intervention funds allocated to them by the Tertiary Institutions Trust Fund (TETFund).
This commitment was disclosed by the House Committee on TETFund and Other Services during a courtesy visit to the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, on Thursday.
The Committee Chair, Hon. Mariam Odinaka, revealed that over ₦500 billion in TETFund intervention funds is currently lying unutilized in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and is inaccessible to tertiary institutions across the country. Additionally, three state-owned tertiary institutions in Kaduna have over ₦1.3 billion in unutilized TETFund intervention funds.
Addressing the Governor, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, Odinaka commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to infrastructure development in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, noting that 80% of the infrastructure improvements are due to TETFund intervention.
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“One of the key mandates of this committee is to ensure proper oversight of tertiary interventions and to account for all funds disbursed to bridge infrastructure gaps and improve teaching and learning across all institutions. We are also tasked with overseeing the TETFund agency, a role we began in May. During this oversight, we discovered over ₦500 billion lying unutilized in the CBN. This money was allocated to beneficiary institutions but has yet to be accessed,” Odinaka said.
She continued, “Further investigation revealed excuses and reasons for these accumulated funds. We have resolved to ensure these funds are released to the institutions despite any existing challenges. Our role is to diagnose the problems and provide solutions to ensure the funds are utilized for their intended academic purposes.”
Odinaka acknowledged the growing needs to improve funding and interventions within TETFund’s 12 intervention lines. She praised the President for his support, noting that 80% of the infrastructure at these institutions is a result of TETFund intervention.
She detailed the unaccessed funds for Kaduna State institutions: ₦547 million for Kaduna State University, ₦724 million for Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, and ₦30 million for College of Education, Gidan Waya, totaling ₦1.302 billion. The committee aims to raise awareness and facilitate access to these funds, ensuring they are used to complete essential projects.
In her remarks, Deputy Governor Dr. Hadiza Balarabe expressed appreciation for the Committee’s efforts to resolve the challenges faced by higher education institutions in accessing federal intervention funds. She encouraged heads of state tertiary institutions to openly share their challenges to foster a collaborative approach to finding viable solutions.
The meeting was attended by leaders from various federal educational institutions in the state. The Deputy Governor assured the delegation that the state government would fully commit to any agreements reached and emphasized the importance of maintaining consistent standards across all departments to elevate the state’s institutions.
She acknowledged the importance of TETFund interventions for institutional development but also noted the challenges in sustaining these efforts across all schools in the state.
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