The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the National Assembly and the National Economic Council to block any attempts to abolish the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) under the proposed Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.
Speaking at Bayero University, Kano, ASUU Kano Zonal Coordinator, Professor Abdulkadir Muhammad, warned that the bill’s provisions to phase out TETFund’s funding by 2030 pose a significant threat to the development of Nigeria’s public universities.
The controversial bill proposes that TETFund receive 50% of development levies from the consolidated account between 2025 and 2026, 66.67% from 2027 to 2029, and no allocation from 2030 onward, as stated in Section 56(3).
Professor Muhammad described the proposal as an attack on a vital system that has mitigated the chronic underfunding of higher education in Nigeria. He emphasized TETFund’s critical role in public university development, noting, “TETFund has been the most effective agency in providing critical interventions to the education sector, far exceeding annual budgetary allocations that often fall short.”
Established in 1993 following ASUU’s advocacy for alternative university funding, TETFund has played a key role in improving infrastructure and academic standards in public tertiary institutions. Muhammad cautioned that abolishing TETFund would reverse years of progress and compromise Nigeria’s competitiveness on the global stage.
ASUU labeled the bill “anti-poor, unpatriotic, and destructive,” urging lawmakers and stakeholders to reject it outright. The union vowed to resist any moves to dismantle TETFund, describing such efforts as a “systematic attempt to cripple Nigeria’s public tertiary education system.”
ASUU also called on Nigerians to pressure the federal government into withdrawing the bill, warning that its passage would have dire consequences for the future of public education in the country.