President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized N320.3 billion as the 2023 Intervention Funds for the country’s public tertiary education institutions.
Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), made the announcement on Wednesday in Abuja, during the Fund’s yearly strategic planning workshop with all heads of beneficiary schools.
Echono stated that the meeting was an opportunity to receive feedback and assess the performance of its intervention lines in order to improve the agency’s mandate delivery.
According to the TETFund boss, the 2023 intervention cycle will see each university receiving N1,154,732,133.00; Polytechnic—N699,344,867.00, while each College of Education would get N800,862,602.
He said, “I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has approved the 2023 disbursement guidelines in the total sum of N320,345,040, 835. (Three hundred and twenty billion, three hundred and forty-five million, forty thousand, eight hundred and thirty-five Naira only). On the basis of this, each university shall get, for the Year 2023 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,154,732,133.00.
“This comprises N954,732,123.00 as annual direct disbursement and N200million as zonal intervention. Similarly, each Polytechnic shall get N699,344,867.00 consisting of N569,344,807.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention, while each College of education shall get N800,862,602 comprising N670,862,602.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention.
“It is pertinent to note that this represents the highest disbursement to each beneficiary institution, since inception of the Fund.”
Echono went on to say that the fortunes of Nigeria’s tertiary education sector have improved significantly under Buhari’s administration, claiming that N1.702 trillion has been disbursed as education tax collection to public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education between 2015 and date (8 years), compared to N1.249 trillion disbursed from the Fund’s inception in 1993 up to 2014. (21 years).
“This remarkable success is due to sustained efforts at expanding and increasing efficiency of collection of the Education Tax and added impetus is the gracious approval of Mr. President for an increase in education tax from 2.0% to 2.5% in the year 2021,” he added.
Echono also urged Buhari, as a parting gift to the education sector, to sign Finance Bill 2023, which would raise education tax from 2.5% to 3%.
David Adejo, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, urged the beneficiary schools to use the intervention wisely.
He went on to say that the nation is no longer interested in paper presentations, but rather in what one can do with his brain and hands.
