FG spends N727.2billion on tertiary education in 4 years

Maryam Abeeb, Abuja

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu has revealed that the Federal Government, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), has allocated a total sum of N727,225,862,128.86 to public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country in the past four years.
Adamu made this know while addressing newsmen at the 6th Edition of the Weekend Ministerial press briefing held in Abuja.
He lamented over lack of accountability in some of our tertiary institutions.
He reiterated that the Federal Government will not fold its arms to watch public educational institutions funded from the public purse to flout the laws of public accountability.
The Minister stressed that, in the coming weeks, the Federal Ministry of Education will roll out visitation panels to all tertiary institutions to deal with the ugly phenomenon.
Minister’s words: “ the Federal Government through the instrumentality of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) allocated a total of N727,225,862,128.86 worth of investment in critical areas of infrastructural development in our tertiary institutions, especially in physical infrastructure, project maintenance, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support, Entrepreneurship, Library development and special high impact projects, Academic Staff Training and Development, and Research, among others.
“The TETFund intervention is aside from other sources of funding tertiary education such as the NEEDS assessment, internally generated revenue of these institutions among others.
“Total allocations to public universities during the period under review (4 years) therefore, stands at Two hundred and Six billion, Five Hundred and Sixty-Two million, three hundred and ninety-
Three thousand, Eight Hundred naira (N206,562,393,800.00).
“ The total allocation to Polytechnics during the period under review stood at One Hundred and Three billion, One hundred and Seventy-Three million, Three hundred and Seventeen Thousand,
One Hundred and Eight naira (N103,173,317,108.00).
“ I must also report that States’ Universities got a total allocation of Seventy-Four Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty Million, Four Hundred and Sixteen Thousand, Nine Hundred naira (N74,620,416,900).
“For the Colleges of Education, the total allocation during the period under review, stood at One Hundred and one billion, Six Hundred and Thirty-One Million, Three Hundred and Four Thousand, Five Hundred naira (N101,631,304,500).”