Tinubu approves N683 billion intervention funds for tertiary institutions
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved N683.4 billion as the Intervention Funds for public tertiary education institutions in 2024.
This substantial increase marks a significant boost compared to the previous year’s disbursement of over N320 billion.
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, revealed this information during the Fund’s Strategic Planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.
The allocation breakdown reveals that 90.75% is designated for direct disbursement, 8.94% for specific projects, and 2.27% for stabilisation to address emerging issues.
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Echono emphasised the impactful distribution, specifying that each university is set to receive N1,906,944,930.00, polytechnics N1,165,355,235.00, and colleges of education N1,398,426,282.00 for the 2024 intervention cycle. This demonstrates a substantial increase from the 2023 disbursements.
The Executive Secretary attributed this success to the continuous efforts in expanding and enhancing the efficiency of education tax collection.
He also acknowledged the President’s approval to increase the tax from 2.5% to 3.0% in 2023, contributing to this remarkable rise in intervention funds.
During the meeting, Echono urged heads of institutions to ensure judicious utilisation of the funds, emphasising the need for timely payments to contractors and vendors.
He highlighted the new intervention lines, including career centres and skills development programmes, aimed at fostering holistic growth in beneficiary institutions.
In response to challenges such as currency exchange rates impacting scholars, the 2024 intervention includes provisions to address these shortfalls.
Echono expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for his commitment to education development, as outlined in his Renewed Hope agenda.
Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Zubairu Abdullahi, urged stakeholders to align with the President’s vision and work collectively towards achieving the Renewed Hope agenda in education.