The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has threatened to stop financial support to tertiary institutions that fail to meet performance standards or mismanage allocated funds.
The Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Mr Sonny Echono, gave the warning on Monday in Abuja at a one-day strategic engagement with heads of institutions, bursars, and procurement officers of TETFUND beneficiary institutions.
Echono said institutions that failed to utilise or retire funds appropriately, or fall short of enrolment and academic performance benchmarks, risk being de-listed from the fund’s support programmes.
He said the decision was aimed at ensuring effective use of public resources and sustaining the credibility of TETFUND interventions.
“This policy is not to punish any institution, but to encourage accountability and high standards in project implementation,” he said.
The executive secretary said the agency was now focusing on institutions with strong governance, transparency and commitment to educational development.
He also announced the suspension of the foreign component of the TETFUND Scholarship for Academic Staff (TSAS), effective Jan. 1, 2025.
Echono said the decision was due to rising costs and the increasing number of scholars who absconded abroad.
According to him, emphasis will now be on cost-effective, local training programmes under the Academic Staff Training and Development (AST&D) intervention.
He said the 2025 intervention budget would focus on sustainability, completion of abandoned projects, and consolidation of past efforts.
Echono described the engagement as a platform to tackle recurring challenges in the education sector and to improve project execution.
He urged institutions to collaborate with TETFUND to deliver impactful and sustainable projects.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, commended TETFUND for supporting research, infrastructure and staff development in public institutions.
Ribadu, who was represented by Dr Joshua Atah, said public tertiary institutions would struggle to survive without TETFUND interventions.
He urged institutions to be more responsive in designing and implementing projects to meet future education needs.
Ribadu stressed the need for timely and judicious utilisation of allocated funds.
“This responsiveness must reflect in planning and execution to ensure projects are relevant and impactful,” he said.
