TETFund: Pro-Chancellor Decries FG’s Discrimination against Private Institutions

Akinwale Akintunde

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN has faulted the federal government’s discrimination against private tertiary institutions in the distribution and disbursement of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

According to him, TETFund is supposed to be an interventional measure of the federal government to tackle inadequate facilities in tertiary institutions, adding that the discrimination against private institutions is unconstitutional, illegal, immoral, unjust and indefensible.

Olanipekun, who is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, made this known at the 10th convocation ceremony of the institution recently.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said it is inconceivable and morally unjust for the federal government to keep on restricting the disbursement of funds from TETFund, which primarily come or are generated from collective revenue, to public institutions at the expense of private ones.

He said various government agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) release funds to TETFund as a channel for onward distribution to the various tertiary institutions in the country.

He therefore called on the government to without any further foot-dragging, put a halt to the discrimination. “The grundnorm of Nigeria is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which, by section 42 (1) (a) prohibits discrimination against any citizen of Nigeria in any form or manner through the application of any law, executive or administrative action of government.

“Apart from the fact that section 7 (1) of the TETFund Act is repugnant and inconsistent with section 42 of the constitution, it is inconceivable and morally unjust for the Federal Government of Nigeria to keep on restricting disbursement of funds from TETFund (which primarily come or are generated from our collective revenue), to public institutions at the expense of private ones. At a point in time, the erstwhile Vice-President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo, was quoted as saying that the federal government would redress the injustice. That promise is yet to be honoured.”