The Federal Government has given tertiary institutions 30 days to account for unspent Tertiary Education Trust Fund allocations, warning that idle money will be re-allocated and officials will face sanctions for non-compliance.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave the directive in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting with heads of institutions.
Alausa noted that the ministry has faced a dilemma over allocations that are not being put to good use. He stated that resources for developing infrastructure have remained idle due to bottlenecks.
The minister’s directive follows repeated concerns from TETFund over the significant amount of unused allocations by higher institutions in Nigeria.
In July, the Fund threatened to delist institutions that fail to access and utilise their allocations, emphasising that the money would be diverted to institutions that are up to date with accessing and utilising disbursements.
Although TETFund did not make the amount of unused funds public, the House of Representatives Committee on TETFund noted in August 2024 that the sum of N500bn remained idle in the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Similarly, the Academic Staff Union of Universities stated on Wednesday during a meeting convened by the TETFund Board of Trustees in Abuja that over N600bn worth of allocations remain unused by institutions.
