The Yola Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed grave concerns over the implications of the Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024 on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). According to the union, the bill, in its current form, will progressively deprive TETFund of critical funding, potentially leading to its complete shutdown by 2030.
In a statement issued in Yola, the ASUU Yola Zone, which includes Adamawa State University (ADSU) Mubi, Modibbo Adama University (MAU) Yola, Federal University Gashua (FUGA), Taraba State University (TSU) Jalingo, University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), and Yobe State University (YSU) Damaturu, warned that the cessation of allocations to TETFund by 2030 would spell its inevitable end.
The union underscored the critical role of TETFund in funding tertiary education in Nigeria and cautioned that the proposed changes in the tax bill could cripple the education sector, further exacerbating existing challenges.
The Yola Zone Coordinator of ASUU, Dani Mamman, addressing a briefing at the MAU campus, said ASUU which played a pivotal role in establishing TETFund is keen to see it survive.
He said it was unacceptable that the proposed controversial NTB 2024 seeks to dismantle TETFund by allocating only 50 percent of the development levy to it from 2025 to 2026 with the remaining half diverted to National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and Nigeria Education Loans Fund (NELFUND).
“Replacing TETFund’s vital role with NELFUND such that by the year 2030 and beyond, TETFund will receive zero allocation from the development levy is an ill-conceived and unjustifiable move that will cripple public tertiary education,” Mamman said.
He added that redirecting funds meant for TETFund to other agencies contradicts the TETFund Act 2011 and a gross mis-allocation of resources.
“The consequences of this policy are dire. It will inevitably lead to a return to the dark ages of underfunded and crumbling universities,” he stated.
