The House of Representatives on Tuesday has set up an ad hoc committee to probe alleged abuse of N2.3 trillion education tax funds by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) from 2011 to 2013.
This was passed as a resolution in the plenary session of the House on Tuesday after the adoption of a motion co-sponsored by Olusola Fatoba, David Fouh and Zakari Nyanpa.
The lawmakers, in the motion, said since the establishment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund in 2011, the Fund has earned trillions of naira as generated revenue.
They, however, alleged that the Fund is “reputed for numerous financial abuses in its operations, award of contracts and execution of projects.”
“The standard operating procedure within the fund is porous and does not create a platform for proper supervision of projects domiciled with tertiary institutions, with disbursements of funds happening without tracking and payments being made despite the failure of contractors to achieve milestones required for such payments,” he said.
“These abuses, actions, inactions and infractions have resulted in the misappropriation of funds and unjust enrichment of funds worth about N2.3 trillion.”
The lawmaker said if urgent steps were not taken to investigate the allegations, the “decay of the tertiary education system” will continue to increase”.
