FG Spent N110 Billion on Tertiary Education in 3 Years – Wike

The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government spent N110 billion through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) between 2011 and 2013.

Wike made the announcement in Enugu at a Stakeholders’ Town Hall meeting on TETFUND interventions in tertiary institutions in the South East.

The minister said that a breakdown of the expenditure showed that government spent N30 billion in 2011, N35 billion in 2012 and N45 billion in 2013.

He said that each university in the South East Zone got three billion naira under the high impact intervention on infrastructure development.

The minister said that each polytechnic and college of education received two billion naira and one billion naira, respectively.

Wike expressed his dismay that many state and Federal Government-owned tertiary institutions did not access the fund for their development.

“We have N50 billion not accessed in the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) lying fallow in various commercial banks.’’

The minister said the town hall meeting was borne out of the prolonged strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and to also brief stakeholders on investment in the education sector.

He expressed the willingness of the Federal Government to provide quality education for the people.

The Acting Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Malam Aliyu Na’iya, spoke on the activities of the company.

Na’iya said that it was established to provide support for the development of tertiary institutions in infrastructure, library, system development, training and research.

He said that the company never awarded contracts on behalf of the institutions but supervised the implementation of contracts.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that representatives of each tertiary institution took turns to present reports of funds they received. (NAN)