Rita Odafe
Concerns Over TETFUND Replacement
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised alarms regarding the proposed elimination of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), asserting that this decision could damage the advancement of higher education in Nigeria.
In a statement released on Tuesday by its national chairman, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU criticized the federal government’s intention to substitute TETFUND with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) through the Tax Reform Bills introduced by President Bola Tinubu, which are currently under consideration by the National Assembly.
Professor Osodeke described this transition as likening it to sacrificing a vital parent to favor a newborn, expressing serious concerns over the gradual reallocation of TETFUND’s assets to support NELFUND.
The union is urging the National Assembly, particularly Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, to defend TETFUND from potential elimination prompted by the Tax Bill 2024.
ASUU contends that reallocating TETFUND resources to fund NELFUND is fundamentally flawed.
They pointed out that “Section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024 mandates that in 2025 and 2026, only 50% of the Development Levy will be allocated to TETFund, with the rest shared among NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND.”
The document also mentions that TETFUND will receive “66.7% in the years 2027, 2028, and 2029,” but warns that it will get “0% in 2030 and onwards.”
“The implications of this new taxation framework suggest that from 2030 onward, all revenue from the Development Levy will be directed to NELFUND.”
“ASUU perceives this situation as not just troubling but also detrimental to our national development goals, threatening TETFUND’s viability.”
“The union emphasized that TETFUND has been essential for infrastructure growth, postgraduate education, and research enhancement in Nigeria’s public universities over the past 25 years. Hence, redirecting any portion of the Education Tax to support another body not recognized in the TETFund Act of 2011 is illegal and should be rejected.”
“Completely eliminating any allocation for TETFUND from 2030 is essentially a method of dismantling the agency. Their suggestion for TETFUND to independently generate funding is impractical and misleading.”
“Thus, replacing TETFUND with NELFUND is akin to murdering a parent for the sake of a new child, an unethical stance that contradicts the principles of justice.”
ASUU cautioned that dissolving TETFUND would reverse years of progress and achievements in the nation’s higher education sector.
“Therefore, Nigeria should focus on enhancing TETFUND’s operations and sustainability rather than destroying it,” ASUU concluded.
