The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced plans to closely scrutinize how funds disbursed to public universities through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) are managed, raising fresh concerns about transparency, accountability, and the effective utilization of the billions of naira allocated to the nation’s tertiary institutions each year.
The move signals a potential wave of internal oversight and possible investigations into university managements across Nigeria, particularly vice-chancellors and top administrators responsible for overseeing projects funded by TETFund interventions.
The announcement was made by ASUU President Chris Piwuna during the public presentation of over seventy academic textbooks sponsored under the TETFund National Research Fund intervention. The event brought together academics, policymakers, and stakeholders in the Nigerian education sector and highlighted the growing concerns within the academic community over how intervention funds are being utilized by university authorities.
Speaking at the event, Piwuna stated that while the federal government has continued to channel significant financial resources into the university system through TETFund, there are mounting indications that some institutions have not managed the funds with the level of transparency and accountability expected of them.
According to him, ASUU will begin taking a closer look at how universities deploy the intervention funds, particularly those meant for infrastructure development, research support, staff training, and academic publications. He emphasized that the union cannot continue to advocate for increased funding for universities while ignoring concerns about the management of resources already allocated.
Piwuna stressed that university administrators must be held accountable for every naira disbursed under the intervention scheme, warning that the era of treating TETFund allocations as routine entitlements without proper reporting and measurable outcomes must come to an end.
TETFund has become one of the most significant funding lifelines for Nigerian public tertiary institutions. Established to address the chronic underfunding of higher education, the fund is financed through a dedicated education tax imposed on the profits of registered companies operating in Nigeria.
Through this mechanism, the fund provides financial support for a wide range of academic development initiatives, including the construction of lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, hostels, and other infrastructure projects across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
In addition to infrastructure development, TETFund also finances research grants, postgraduate scholarships, conference participation for lecturers, and the publication of scholarly books aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s academic output.
However, despite these interventions, concerns have continued to grow about whether the funds are being used efficiently in some institutions.
ASUU leaders argue that there are cases where projects funded through the scheme remain incomplete for years, while in other instances, funds allocated for specific purposes are allegedly diverted to unrelated projects. The union believes such practices undermine the core objectives of the intervention programme and deprive students and academics of the benefits the funding was designed to provide.
Another area of concern highlighted by ASUU involves the performance of TETFund-funded Centres of Excellence established in several universities across the country. While these centres were created to promote advanced research and innovation in critical academic fields, the union believes that some of them have not delivered the level of impact expected given the substantial financial investments committed to them.
ASUU officials have called for a comprehensive evaluation of the centres to determine whether they are fulfilling their mandate or merely consuming resources without measurable results.
The Federal Government has also signaled support for greater accountability in the management of TETFund allocations. Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, recently emphasized the need for stronger financial discipline within tertiary institutions, noting that public funds meant for educational development must be managed transparently.
According to the minister, university leaders must ensure that intervention funds are used strictly for approved projects and must be prepared to provide detailed explanations regarding how the allocations are spent.
