ASUU warns proposed tax reforms could endanger university education

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has predicted that university education may go into extinction in the next six years, should the proposed tax re­form bill, which seeks to reduce company tax remittance to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), scales through the National Assembly.

Osodeke expressed this fear on Mon­day, while speaking at a one-day strategic interaction with heads of beneficiary in­stitutions, which was sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in Abuja.

According to the ASUU boss, Nigerian universities are going through challenging times and must not be allowed to be plunged into further excruciating pains.
He enjoined university leaders to fight for themselves and not rely on others to negotiate their future.

According to him, the pro­posed tax changes to TETFund could drastically affect Nigerian universities’ funding, emphasis­ing the need to ensure these bills don’t pass if we truly care about our education system.

He warned that tax reductions may seem beneficial to industries, but they risk crippling higher ed­ucation funding.

“I want to say that we have a lot of problems. If we don’t work hard, we cannot be sitting here in the next six years. Nobody will be here in the next six years.

“Whether we will be here or not in the next six years will de­pend on the National Assembly. I am so happy the Senate and the House of Representatives are here. The information available to us as a union is that there are two sets of bills in the National Assembly.

“One from the executive and one from the legislature, all con­cerning TETFund.

TETFund is just there. And the one from the executive arm of government indicates a page. Out of 260 tax reviews, it is just a page in it. And I am very sure the president will not have the details to look at that when he is reading.

“And what is there? That by the year 2025, they will increase the percentage of tax paid by industries to 4%. TETFund will receive 50% of it. By 2027, TET­Fund will be reduced to 3% from 4%.

“It should not be given to a bank to lend out as loans. When I look at this so-called NELFund as a bank, the money will not be given to a bank to lend to students. That bill is there.

“And all of us, if we still care about Nigerian universities, we must make sure that this bill does not pass. But once it goes through, Nigerian universities will stop. So when you hear our team talking, this is what we are talking about”.

Commenting on abandoned projects littering some campuses, the ASUU president posited that there is need for the utilisation of backlog of unspent funds allocat­ed to tertiary education.

“We found that there is a lot of money stuck in central bank. Over the past 20 years, many universities have not been able to utilise it. Let’s talk to ourselves.

“You have project abandoned and part of the money is still there. You have project aban­doned from 10 years ago, and part of the money is still there. It has accumulated.

“You cannot utilise it. In 2031, when we negotiated with the gov­ernment towards the end, this money, in the assessment, seems as if we don’t have the capacity to use it. So what am I saying? This means it is building up. If it comes up and we are invited, we will support it.

“But if you have an invest­ment with this backlog—some­thing you cannot use you should not have access to the next one. Because we will learn how to use it when people fall for it. So that bill is also there, and it will make it impossible for you to use it. You can’t account for the past. You cannot use it.”

At the meeting which saw massive attendance by stake­holders, the Executive Secre­tary of TETFund, Arch. Sonny Echono, said the strategic en­gagement marked a new chap­ter for the board, where it aligns efforts with stakeholders to opti­mise performance and enhance the quality of Nigeria’s tertiary education.

He said that with the recent increase in education tax from 2.5% to 3%, TETFund is poised for even greater impact, improv­ing infrastructure, academic pro­grammes, and accessibility for all students.

“As heads of TETFund ben­eficiary institutions, you play a pivotal role in actualising the mandate of the Fund. It is crucial that we engage constructively to set a clear course for the Fund’s direction and operational prior­ities,” he said.

“TETFund’s purpose is to em­power our nation’s human cap­ital, addressing the urgent need for capable, skilled professionals across all sectors. Established in response to the deficits in our ter­tiary education sector, TETFund began as the Education Tax Fund in 1993, transitioning in 2011 to its current form with a commitment to enhancing the quality of Nige­ria’s public tertiary institutions through Education Tax contri­butions.

“The increase last year in the Education Tax from 2.5% to 3% authorised by the Com­mander-in-Chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represents a sig­nificant stride for TETFund. This change reinforces the govern­ment’s dedication to strengthen­ing Nigeria’s educational frame­work.”

On his part, Hon. Aminu Bel­lo Masari, the chairman of the board of Trustees of TETFund, called for the removal of politics from the education sector if we are to experience any real devel­opment.

TETFund also revealed that it collected a record-breaking Edu­cation Tax of N1.5 trillion in the year 2024.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Arch. Sonny Echono, disclosed this at the TETFund stakeholders’ engagement on Monday in Abuja, where he not­ed that the feat was made possible due to the approval of President Bola Tinubu, which saw the Ed­ucation Tax rise from 2.5% to 3% sometimes last year.

“The increase last year, in the Education Tax from 2.5% to 3% – authorised by the Com­mander-in-Chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represents a significant stride for TETFund. This change, culminating with a record-breaking Education Tax collection of approximately N1.5 trillion so far this year, reinforces the government’s dedication to strengthening Nigeria’s educa­tional framework.

“We now enter the 2025 budget cycle with a stronger foundation, one that allows us to enhance our impact across the country’s tertia­ry institutions”, he said.