TETFund got ₦1.024tn funding in 5 years — NEITI
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has stated that a total of approximately ₦1.024 trillion in revenue accrued to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) from education tax over a five-year period.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this on Monday in Abuja at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between NEITI and TETFund, according to a statement by NEITI’s Deputy Director of Communication and Stakeholder Management, Chris Ochonu. Referencing the NEITI industry reports on the Nigerian extractive sector, Orji noted that the MoU focused on information and data sharing, ensuring that NEITI’s verified data would inform TETFund’s strategic planning, revenue forecasting, and accountability framework.
“Under the MoU, NEITI will work with TETFund to ensure timely and prompt remittances through early deployment of evidence-based data. NEITI will also provide real-time information on revenue accruals due to TETFund to guarantee transparency and support the Fund in tracking remittances and utilisation. Our joint effort will uplift educational institutions, enhance access to scholarships, and strengthen the research ecosystem across our public tertiary institutions.”
Orji further emphasised that NEITI’s role will be to continuously support TETFund with timely, credible, and independently validated data on revenue accruals from the extractive sector. The support would enhance TETFund’s capacity to track what was due, what had been paid, and what was yet to be remitted, thereby promoting accountability and enabling proactive financial planning in the education sector, Orji said. On the accruals to TETFund from education taxes in the extractive sector, a breakdown of the revenues from the NEITI’s industry audit reports showed that, in 2022, the total revenue accruals to TETFund stood at ₦322.99 billion.
In 2023, the figure rose significantly to ₦571.01 billion, the highest annual inflow to date. Between 2019 and 2021, NEITI audit data showed that total accruals to TETFund amounted to ₦644.19 billion, of which ₦624.32 billion was disbursed. These disbursements underscored the pivotal role of the extractive sector in financing Nigeria’s tertiary education. “Today’s MoU connects the source and the application of public revenues. NEITI tracks and verifies what is paid. TETFund ensures that what is received is invested for impact. Together, we are creating a value chain of accountability—from extraction to education,” the Executive Secretary maintained.
The Executive Secretary stressed that over ₦1.024 trillion accrued to TETFund in just five years must be fully accounted for, efficiently deployed, and transparently tracked. He added that the fund must translate to modern libraries, functional laboratories, revitalised lecture halls, and cutting-edge research that meets the challenges of the 21st century.
