The Centre for Public Accountability has highlighted the Tertiary Education Trust Fund as a vital mechanism sustaining Nigeria’s higher education system, warning that many public institutions would have faced severe infrastructural decline without its interventions. Speaking at a virtual press conference, Executive Director Olufemi Lawson said an independent assessment showed that TETFund remains indispensable to the survival and development of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education nationwide.
The organisation explained that its evaluation involved months of monitoring projects, transparency measures and service delivery under the leadership of Executive Secretary Sonny Echono. Researchers, policy analysts and education experts engaged with administrators, lecturers, students, contractors and host communities to measure the impact of the Fund’s interventions. Findings indicated that despite economic pressures and rising project costs, TETFund has sustained programmes aimed at improving learning conditions and institutional capacity.
Records reviewed by CPA showed that between 2011 and 2024, the Fund disbursed more than ₦1.8 trillion to public tertiary institutions. Universities received over ₦918 billion, polytechnics more than ₦461 billion and colleges of education over ₦458 billion. The organisation noted that these interventions translated into visible improvements across campuses, with more than 152,000 infrastructural projects executed nationwide.
Projects funded include lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, hostels, ICT centres, faculty buildings, entrepreneurship hubs and innovation workshops. Lawson said institutions that once suffered from severe infrastructural deficits now benefit from significantly improved learning environments. The Fund has also supported postgraduate training for lecturers, academic conferences, institutional research and digital transformation initiatives.
CPA commended TETFund for expanding interventions in ICT, internet connectivity, e-library systems and smart classrooms, which have strengthened digital learning and innovation. At the same time, the group acknowledged challenges in procurement processes, project execution timelines and institutional compliance, stressing the need for continuous improvement in accountability mechanisms.
Despite these concerns, the organisation passed a vote of confidence in the Fund’s management and board, led by Echono and Chairman Aminu Bello Masari. It urged beneficiary institutions to ensure prudent use of intervention funds and avoid project abandonment, noting that TETFund’s role remains central to addressing chronic underfunding, decaying infrastructure and weak research capacity in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.
