President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the disbursement of N320.35 billion as intervention funds for Nigeria public tertiary institutions for the 2023 intervention cycle. Out of the total sum, each public university will receive N1.15billion.
Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), disclosed the approval during a workshop with leaders of beneficiary institutions in Abuja on Wednesday.
Echono said the fund “represents the highest disbursement to each beneficiary institution since the inception of TETFund.”
“I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has approved the 2023 disbursement guidelines in the total sum of N320,345,040, 835 (three hundred and twenty billion, three hundred and forty-five million, forty thousand, eight hundred and thirty-five naira only). On the basis of this, each university shall get, for the Year 2023 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,154,732,133.00,” he said.
Echono said the intervention fund for the universities comprised N954,732,123.00 as annual direct disbursement and N200million as zonal intervention.
He said each polytechnic will receive N699,344,867.00 which comprised N569,344,807.00 for annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention, while each college of education shall get N800,862,602.00 comprising of N670,862,602.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention. The 2023 intervention fund reflects over 70% increase across all categories of the beneficiary institutions.
Earlier in 2022, public universities received the sum of N642,848,138.00 each. Polytechnics on the other hand were awarded N396,780,086.00 each, while colleges of education received N447,758, 804.00 each as interventions fund. A total of 246 beneficiaries’ institutions were identified by TETFund.
According to Echono, in the last eight years, a total of N1.702 trillion has been disbursed to public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. He noted that the fund was higher when compared with the total amount disbursed since the inception of the fund in 1993 to 2014 (N1.249 trillion).
“This remarkable success is due to sustained efforts at expanding and increasing efficiency of collection of the education tax and added impetus is the gracious approval of Mr. President for an increase in education tax from 2.0% to 2.5% in the year 2021,” he added.
During his remarks, David Adejo, permanent secretary for the federal ministry of education, charged the beneficiary institutions to make judicious use of the intervention funds.
