The Nation Newspaper

Tag: TETFUND

  • 2019 Polls: Abdulsalami warns against Nigeria’s disintegration

    Former Head of state,  Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Friday said he will forever be an enemy of anyone that tried to hinder the democratic development of Nigeria or plunge Nigeria into crisis.

    Abdualsaslami said this at the Maiden Edition of General Abdulsalami Abubakar Foundation Peace Lecture, organised by the staff and students of the Abdulsalami Abubakar Post Graduate Students’ Hall of the University of Ibadan. The lecture was titled; “Collaborative Peace Building in Nigeria,”

    He cautioned politicians against disrupting the 2019 general elections, saying “we have no other place to run to should the country be engulfed by fire”.

    According to the former head of state, Nigeria cannot be that great nation we all want,  except we all agree to collectively work together and collaborate on peace.

    “Peace is not absence of disagreement. Every society must have disagreements. This is because we are not born alike, even twins do not operate in a like manner,” hence there is nothing wrong with people having disagreements.

    “What is expected is that when we have disagreements we would find peaceful solutions to the issues, ” he said.

    He said there can be no sustainable development where people find it difficult to deal with the problems around them peacefully.

    Read Also: NSCDC deploys over 10,000 operatives for Osun guber poll

    “It is therefore, my honest opinion that we are going nowhere until we have a national consensus to work for peace.

    “What our politicians should focus upon at a time like this is to be working with professionals on how to make a difference in 2019.”

    The former head of state stressed the need for Nigerians to focus more on addressing the escalating development crisis in the land.

    “No matter how good those managing INEC are, if things are not well managed as they are, it might be difficult for us to have credible elections in 2019,” he said.

    He advised the students to reject being used in the forthcoming elections and not be allowed to be dragged into electoral malfeasance and violence.

    He also appealed to politicians to be more conciliatory in their relationship and public utterances.

    “INEC must be an unbiased umpire. The security agencies in the country must be fair to all, people must be free to vote their leaders”.

    The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Idowu Olayinka, praised the former head of state, adding “it is very rare for a military head of state to say he has to grant the wishes  of the people for a democratic government.

    “This is the kind of things we need in Nigeria for our leaders to forge peace in the country,” he haid.

    The University presented a peace award to Gen. Abdulsalami, while a cafeteria was built in his honour.

    Some Dignitaries at the event included former minister of Petroleum, Tam David West, the GOC, 2 Division, Fidelis Azinta,  former Executive Secretary, TETFund Prof.  Suleiman Bogoro and the state governor, Abiola Ajimobi.

     

  • Group drags TETfund Boss, Baffa to EFCC

    A Civil Society Organization, Centre for Public Accountability (CPA), has dragged the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, over allegations of abuse of office and cases of contract deemed improperly awarded by the TETfund Chief Executive.

    The group led by its Executive Director, Comrade Olufemi Lawson, in a petition submitted today at the Lagos Office of the EFCC, said “It is with a deep sense of responsibility, that the Centre for Public Accountability (CPA), find it compelling to lodge a formal complaint, for investigative activities, of the Abuse of Office and arbitrary award of Contract, against laid down principles and law, by the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, since assumption of Office, till date.”

    The group accused Dr. Baffa of violating several provisions of the laws, guiding the operation of TETFund, among which stipulated, that TETFund shall ensure that funds generated from education tax are utilized to improve the quality of education in Nigeria WITHOUT DIRECT CONTRACT AWARDING.

    CPA also accused the TETfund Boss, of issuing instruction to public owned universities to reserve 20% of all contracts on the intervention fund provided to them by TETFund for “stakeholders”.

    “We strongly believe that these “Stakeholders” are none other than Dr. Abdullahi Baffa himself, his cronies and immediate family, many of who he has used as fronts, in executing the numerous illegal contract being awarded to several Higher institutions in clear violation of laid down procedures.” the petition further stated.

    “We are worried, that rather than focusing on the primary objective of the establishment of the fund, Dr. Baffa has converted the agency to a market of political patronage and contract bazzar, to the extent that many intervention projects are no longer advertised as stipulated by law. Indeed, what Dr. Abdullahi Baffa has been engaging in, contrary to the spirit and letter of the anti-corruption war of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. It is disheartening that Dr. Baffa is working in opposite direction to the cardinal policy thrust of Mr. President by promoting abuse of Office and corruption, in such a sensitive organization.”

    The group called for the thorough and credible investigation of the allegation by the anti-graft body without minding whose ox was gored.
    The petition, which was received in the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency on Tuesday, was also forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari, Honorable Minister of Education, Honorable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions, His House of Representatives counterpart, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Bankers Committee of Nigeria and the Federal Inland Revenue Services FIRS.

  • Katsina flood: ‘50% of IDPs have left camp’

    More that 50% of the internally displaced persons, IDP, of the recent flood disaster which hit Jibia town in Katsina state have left the Central Primary School camp Jibia where they were temporarily quartered in the aftermath of the disaster which occurred Sunday July 17

    The Executive Secretary of Katsina State Emergency management Agency, SEMA, Dr Aminu Waziri told newsmen on Monday in his office while giving an update on the incident that about 60% of the victims have received relief materials including cash supports. He said that a joint committee involving personnel of the local government, state government, SEMA and NEMA were supervising the distribution of relief materials.

    He said 466 houses have been verified as lost in the disaster while about 5o % of the IDPs have left either to joined their relations, seek refuge or rent apartments in areas they considered more comfortable with the cash refunds they have collected from us’’

    ‘’we also solicited and received medical supports, mobile medical laboratory, and sanitary facilities. We have received donations including cash and food stuffs from Philanthropists’’.

    Read Also: Polio Immunization: Kano takes campaign to IDPs camp

    ‘’The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, Dr Abdullahi Bichi Bappa was in Jibia on Monday and donated 100 bags of rice,100 bags of spaghetti and 23 bags of millet’’.

    ‘’I just received a call that the catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah is on his way to Jibia to donate relief item to the IDPs and I hope to be there to receive him’’

    The SEMA boss further provided a breakdown of the total number of displaced persons to include 2604 persons made up of 65 adult males, 559 adult females, 1804 male children, and 908 female children

    He said the agency had to carry out a head count of the victims to specifically categorize them according to their special needs, nutrition, diets and education

    He said that so far N5m have been received as cash donations outside other relief materials

  • N168bn spent on education projects -TETFund chief

    The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, said on Tuesday the agency has spent N168 billion on education projects under the Special High Impact Allocation.

    He said the money was given to 12 universities, six polytechnics and six colleges of education.

    Baffa, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, said the intervention was never suspended as reported in several quarters.

    He said: “We have spent about N36 billion on that recently aside the N132billion already spent on Special High Impact Project before now, making that over N168 billion.

    “These projects have all sprung up across the beneficiary institutions landscape and we are happy to say that we have thousands of projects all the 202 beneficiary institutions.

    “Quite a number of them have been completed, a number of them I have commissioned already, a number are on the queue waiting to be commissioned. We are pleased with the progress we have made in this aspect of our intervention activity.”

     

     

  • Falana to ASUU: reclaim N463b from TETFUND

    Human rights activist Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to ensure that the N463 billion education intervention funds lying fallow at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is disbursed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education owned by federal and state governments.

    Addressing the 20th Delegates Conference of ASUU at the Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi State on Tuesday, Falana praised the union for the initiative, which led to the enactment of the TETFUND Act in 1992.

    The law has made it compulsory for companies in Nigeria to contribute education tax of two percent from their yearly profits to the funding of publicly owned tertiary institutions in the country.

    However, the Senior Advocate stunned participants at the conference when he disclosed that the tertiary institutions did not access N250 billion from the account of TETFUND from 2011-2016 and that the sum of N213.4 billion was outstanding for 2017 alone.

    Falana said 78 public universities were entitled to about 50 percent of the total sum of N463 billion in the TETFUND Account.

    Urging the TETFUND board to urgently review the cumbersome guidelines for accessing the fund Falana called on the ASUU and other unions to monitor the collection of the education tax as well as the disbursement and management of the intervention fund by the authorities of tertiary institutions.

    He said due to lack of monitoring in the past, not less than N250billion had been diverted from the fund by unscrupulous school administrators with the connivance of former members of the TETFUND board.

    Falana assured that the bulk of the stolen fund would be recovered by the anti-graft agencies probing the fraud.

    Falana advised TETFUND against  banning institutions because some past administrators failed to render account of the money collected by them. Instead, he suggested that TETFUND reports such administrators to the police and anti-graft agencies for investigation and possible prosecution.

    Falana said that without the intervention of TETFUND, public tertiary institutions would have collapsed as various governments failed to make provision for capital projects, TETFUND had become the only source of funding infrastructural development and research in public tertiary institutions.

    Falana believes that if TETFUND can make available N213billion in 2017 alone, the body  has the capability to make a greater impact on the public tertiary institutions if the education tax is effectively collected and monitored.

  • FCE Akoka gets over N300m from TETFUND

    The Federal College of Education (Technical), FCE (T), Akoka on Friday said it had received over N300 million support from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND ) in 2018.

    Dr Sijibomi Olusanya, Provost of the College, made the disclosure in an interview with our reporter, on the sideline of the 2017/2018 matriculation for students of the Distance Learning Programme (DLP).

    Olusanya said the chunk of the fund would be used for the construction of block of classrooms for the School of Vocational Education.

    According to him, the fund will also be used to build a workshop for the School of Technical Education.

    The provost said that the construction of the second phase of the college library, also funded by TETFUND was ongoing and almost 60 per cent completed.

    According to him, the phase two libraries worth over N200 million will be completed, hopefully before August.

    On the land dispute between the College and the University of Lagos, Olusanya said the Federal Ministry of Education was still looking into the issue.

    “The ministry had just addressed the governing council of UNILAG but has yet to give us a feedback on their discussion,” he said.

  • VC: Plateau varsity to access N500m from TETfund

    Prof. Yohanna Izam, the Vice Chancellor of Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, says the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has approved   N500 million as an intervention fund for the institution.

    Izam disclosed this on Friday when the Plateau State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts and Petition led by its Chairman, Hon. Peter Gyendeng, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

    “Already modalities for accessing the fund are being vigorously pursued in view of felt needs of the university for urgent infrastructural expansion to improve its carrying capacity.

    “This is an impressive development for us in PLASU considering the fact that our monthly allocations   from both the state and local governments are inadequate in meeting the needs of the university, ’’ he said.

    He appealed to the lawmakers and the state government to increase the university’s allocations to enable it copes with its increasing demands, particularly in the payment of staff salaries.

    Izam said that the funds provided by Federal Ministry of Education and the state government tremendously assisted the university in running 17 accredited programmes.

    According to him, another 15 courses would be re-visited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in May for full accreditation.

    The vice chancellor commended the state government, TETFund and the NEEDS Assessment funded by the Federal Ministry of Education for their interventions, attributing the growth of the university to their assistance.

    On admission and employment, Izam said the management of the university was mindful of its status as a state-owned institution.

    He said “efforts must be made to strike a balance in subsequent employment and admissions so that all the 17 local governments in the state have fair representation.’’

    The vice chancellor appealed to the lawmakers to mobilise their constituents through awareness visits to take advantage of the university education the institution is providing to ensure that each local government area fills its quota.

    Gyendeng, on his part, commended the management of the University for being up to date in auditing the university’s account.

    He said the committee members were on a fact finding mission to all the state-owned tertiary institutions to ascertain whether their accounts had been audited.

    NAN

  • Akeredolu, VC hail TETFund for support

    •Agency boss urges varsities to embrace global practices

    Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Vice-Chancellor (VC) ,Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, have praised the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for its contributions to the growth of the state-owned university.

    The duo gave the commendation during the AAUA Distinguished Lecture titled: Paradigm shift in infrastructure development in Nigerian universities: The TETFund approach.

    The lecture was delivered by TETFund Executive Secretary Dr Abdullahi Bichi Baffa.

    Akeredolu, represented by his deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, said without TETFund’s interventions, higher institutions would have collapsed in the face of facility challenges.

    He pleaded with the agency to complement his government’s efforts at improving infrastructure in the school.

    Prof Ajibefun, in his address, hailed TETFund for its “remarkable impact” in the school, describing the agency as a “dependable ally” in delivering academic excellence.

    He said: “In the area of infrastructure, TETFund has facilitated several projects in AAUA and all the projects have been nearly completed. Well over 400 members of our staff have benefitted from post-graduate training and conference attendance sponsorship, while a good number of active researchers have received research grants from the agency.”

    Prof. Ajibefun, who described Dr Baffa as a “distinguished Nigerian” and “astute administrator”, said the agency boss had built on the foundation laid by his predecessors.

    During the lecture, Dr Baffa stressed the need for universities to uphold best global practices in their operations.

    He said TETFund had spent N652.9 billion on tertiary institutions between 2006 and 2016, noting that embracing international best practices for funding would reduce cost of operation, improve efficiency, quality and accuracy.

    He said: “International best practice includes improving environmental conditions and generally enhancing the delivery of frontline services and the attainment of institutional goals and objectives. It also includes the provision of physical facilities for teaching and learning hinged on the new paradigms of small group teaching and interactive pedagogy. These practices broadly cover quality of the facility, its utility value, distribution and ratios, maintenance and replacement policy.”

    The agency boss promised his continued support to AAUA in line with the regulations guiding the operations of TETFund.

  • NUC approves Zamfara State University as 47th state university

    The National Universities Commission ( NUC ) on Monday approved Zamfara State University as the  47th state university and 162 among universities in the country.

    Prof. Abubakarheed, the Executive Secretary, NUC while giving a letter of approval to the government of Zamfara state in Abuja, called for more dedication toward promoting education development in the state and country.

    Abubakar also urged the government of Zamfara to take full advantage of the establishment of the university and contribute its quota to advance the course of education.

    He commended the governor for setting aside N3billion for specific use in staff development, establishment fund and laboratory equipment.

    According to him, this commitment is a good model that should be emulated by whoever wants to establish a university.

    “I write on behalf of NUC that with effect from Monday, March 12, the Zamfara State University is approved as the 47th state university and also 162 universities in Nigeria.

    “Zamfara is the last state to establish a university. But the establishment is apt when you will have to key into the reform programme the NUC is having now and will be of benefit to you.

    “The NUC is looking at how we can be more effective in our regulation of all universities in Nigeria.”

    Rasheed said investment in higher education, educational growth and knowledge was becoming more important than the natural resources.

    He, however, urged the state to increase its activities that would enable the university achieve its goals as it commenced operations later in the year.

    He said JAMB, TETFund and NYSC had been notified of the establishment of the university.

    The Zamfara state governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari said the event was historic as it would mark the beginning of effort to make Zamfara great, especially in the education.

    Yari said the establishment of the university would afford the opportunity to provide education for the teaming youths of the state and as well provide increased development in education.

    He said the courses to be offered would cut across social and natural sciences to quickly address the manpower need of the country.

    He said the government had set aside N3billion as take-off grant for the university.

    “Out of this N3billion, N1billion will be for staff training, N1billion for establishment fund and the other N1billion for laboratory equipment.

    “We believe that university education should not be exclusive but be made accessible irrespective of individual social background.’’

    According to him, a 350 beds hospital is under construction, which will take off as a university teaching hospital.

    Yari, however, said that the committee on the establishment of the university, which had been working for over eight months, had recommended a conventional type of university.

    He promised to make welfare of staff as paramount, adding that the state would avoid owing salaries.

    Yari also presented the physical master plan of the university and laws that would govern operations of the university to the Executive Secretary of NUC.

    NAN

  • Senate threatens to halt budgets of 444 defaulting agencies

    Senate threatens to halt budgets of 444 defaulting agencies

    The Senate has threatened to halt work on the 2018 budgets of no fewer than 444 federal commissions, agencies, corporations and parastatals for failure to submit their account records to the Auditor General for the Federation over the years.

    The action of the agencies contravened Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandated such federal agencies to submit their audited reports to the Auditor General, for onward transmission to the National Assembly.

    Worried by the development, the Senate on Wednesday gave the affected agencies till the end of May 2018 to comply or have their 2018 budget proposals withdrawn.

    Chairman Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo State), while presenting a report at plenary on Wednesday, pointed out that of the 491 federal agencies, only 47 have fully complied by submitting their audited reports for 2017.

    The agencies that have complied included: Assets Management Company to Nigeria (AMCON); Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Abuja Property Development Company; Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre; National Law Reform Commission; National Agricultural Seeds Council; National Open University; University of Abuja among others.

    In all, Urhoghide revealed that 444 agencies are yet to comply.

    Among the defaulting agencies, 85 had never submitted audit report since they were created. While others are in arrears for five to 17 years.

    The report listed some of the agencies yet to submit their reports since inception to include: Bank of Industry (BoI); Bank of Agriculture (BoA); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); FCT Internal Revenue Service; FCT Universal Basic Education Board; Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria; Abuja Infrastructural Investment Centre; National Automotive Council among others.

    The report also named parastatals that are yet to submit their audited accounts between six and 10 years to include the Debt Management Office (DMO); Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); National Insurance Commission; Financial Reporting Council; Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE); and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

    Others are Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP); National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) among others.

    The committee chairman said that many of the parastatals were not willing to submit their audited accounts without being compelled, adding that many of the parastatals do not take issues of accountability in public expenditure seriously.

    He accused the Auditor-General of placing less premium on high profile federal agencies with huge accounts like the NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, CBN, TETFUND, etc.

    “An agency like the EFCC misinterprets the reporting requirement in their enabling Acts to violate the Constitution,” he stated.

    Other recommendations by the committee urged the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation to constantly update and reconcile with parastatals on their status of compliance.

    It also urged the Auditor General to liaise with the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to clarify status of privatised and merged/scrapped Parastatals.

    It also recommended adequate budgetary allocations to the office of the Auditor-General to enhance performance.

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