An investigation into the alleged misuse of ₦2.3 trillion tertiary education tax by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) from 2011 to 2013 is set to be conducted by the House of Representatives.
The plenary session of the House on Tuesday saw the resolution being passed following the adoption of a motion co-sponsored by Olusola Fatoba, David Fouh, and Zakari Nyanpa.
While putting forth the motion, Fatoba, the lead sponsor, drew attention to the fact that the TETfund has earned ‘trillions of naira’ in generated revenue since being established in 2011.
He alleged that the ‘fund is reputed for numerous financial abuse in its operations, award of contracts and execution of projects.’
‘The standard operating procedure within the fund is porous and does not create a platform for proper supervision of projects domiciled with tertiary institutions, with disbursements of funds happening without tracking and payments being made despite the failure of contractors to achieve milestones required for such payments,’ he added.
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‘These abuses, actions, inactions and infractions have resulted in the misappropriation of funds and unjust enrichment of funds worth about ₦2.3 trillion.’
The lawmaker cautioned that in the absence of swift investigations into the allegations, the ‘decay of the tertiary education system’ will continue to increase.’
The lawmaker warned that the repercussions of this would keep on steering the education sector into ‘strikes by academic workers, substandard institutions, lack of faith in the system, migration of talented youths and total collapse of the education system arising from gross abuse of laudable special intervention programmes and aspiration of the president to provide opportunities to young people through quality tertiary education.’
The motion received unanimous approval through a voice vote conducted by the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
Aiming to delve into the allegations, the House assembled an ad hoc committee to carry out an investigation and furnish a report within a four-week period, laying the groundwork for subsequent legislative steps.