The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has warned that beneficiary institutions that fail to meet performance benchmarks or mismanage allocated funds risk being delisted from its support programmes.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch. Sonny Echono, stated this at a one-day strategic engagement with heads of institutions, bursars, and heads of procurement of the Fund’s beneficiary institutions in Abuja on Monday.
Echono said the policy was not meant to punish, but rather to safeguard the credibility and impact of TETFund interventions.
“Let me be clear, institutions that consistently fail to access, utilize or retire funds appropriately, or that fall short of enrollment and academic performance thresholds, risk being delisted as TETFund beneficiary institutions,” he said.
He also said the Fund would ensure that its resources are directed towards institutions committed to high standards of governance, transparency and accountability.
According to him, the strategic engagement aims to address recurring challenges in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, improve project execution, and enhance the quality of education.
Dr. Joshua Atah, the representative of the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdullahi Ribadu, conveyed greetings from the commission and praised TETFund for organising the stakeholders’ engagement.
He emphasised the importance of such meetings for evaluating the implementation and impact of the Fund-supported projects in higher education institutions.
The NUC also appreciated the Fund’s vital role in improving infrastructure, research, staff development and academic quality, stating that without its support, public education would struggle to survive.
He acknowledged its adaptability, such as suspending international scholarships to reallocate resources more effectively.
He urged institutions to be more responsive and ensure that interventions are relevant and efficiently executed. He also encouraged judicious and timely use of funds and called for open and constructive dialogue during the engagement.
