By Peter Omopo
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has issued a stern warning to beneficiary institutions, stating that those failing to meet performance standards or mismanaging allocated funds risk being removed from its list of supported institutions.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, issued the warning during a strategic engagement session with heads of institutions, bursars, and procurement officers of beneficiary institutions held in Abuja on Monday.
Echono emphasized that the policy is aimed at preserving the integrity and effectiveness of the Fund’s interventions rather than imposing punishment.
“Let me be clear: institutions that consistently fail to access, utilise, or retire funds properly, or that fall short of enrollment and academic performance thresholds, risk being delisted as TETFund beneficiary institutions,” he stated.
He stressed that the Fund is committed to channeling resources toward institutions that demonstrate strong governance, transparency, and accountability.
The engagement was organized to tackle persistent issues affecting Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, improve project execution, and raise educational standards. A major focus of the session was the Academic Staff Training and Development programme.
Echono also announced that the foreign scholarship component of the Academic Staff Training and Development initiative had been suspended as of January 1, 2025, due to escalating costs and cases of beneficiaries absconding. The emphasis has now shifted to locally driven, cost-effective training.
He added that the 2025 intervention budget will prioritize sustainability, consolidation, and the completion of abandoned projects across tertiary institutions.
