The House of Representatives has committed to tackling the obstacles that prevent tertiary institutions from utilizing the N500 billion in Tertiary Institutions Trust Fund (TETFund) currently held at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
This pledge was made during a courtesy visit to Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, represented by Deputy Governor Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, on Thursday. The visit was led by the Chairman of the House Committee on TETFund and Other Services, Mariam Onuoha.
Onuoha revealed that three state-owned tertiary institutions in Kaduna have over N1.3 billion in unaccessed funds. She emphasized the committee’s focus on improving oversight, accounting for disbursed funds, and addressing the challenges institutions face in accessing these funds.
The committee praised President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to infrastructure development in Nigeria’s higher education sector, noting that TETFund has contributed to 80 percent of the infrastructure improvements at these institutions.
The committee plans to ease the stringent conditions attached to TETFund guidelines, aiming to facilitate easier access to the funds and support project completion.
“One of the key mandates of this committee is to ensure proper oversight of the tertiary intervention and to make appropriate account of all the monies that have been disbursed to bridge the infrastructure gap and improve teaching and learning across all tertiary institutions,” Onuoha said.
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“The key responsibility of the committee is also the oversight of the TETFund agency, which it embarked on in May. In that assignment, the committee found out that over N500 billion was lying in CBN unused.”
She acknowledged the need for increased funding and intervention across TETFund’s 12 lines but also commended the president for his support.
“Eighty percent of the infrastructures dotting the institutions today are on account of the TETFund intervention and, for that, we give kudos to the Federal Government for a good initiative,” she added.
Onuoha also pointed out that the N500 million allocated for a project in 2020 would not suffice today due to depreciation. “You will agree with me that depreciation will always set in and the N500 million allocated to do this project in 2020 will not be able to do it now, but given the stringent conditions attached to the TETFund guidelines, with regards to prerequisites for accessing these funds, it will hitherto not be possible to readjust this funding,” she said.
Dr. Balarabe expressed gratitude to the committee for its efforts to resolve the issues affecting access to federal intervention funds. She encouraged the heads of the state’s tertiary institutions to openly discuss their challenges with the committee to foster a collaborative approach to finding solutions.
She highlighted the importance of maintaining consistent standards across all departments and improving the state’s institutions. Balarabe acknowledged that while TETFund interventions are crucial, sustaining these efforts across all schools has been challenging.
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