- As its Initiator, ASUU Should be Re-admitted Into TETFund’s Board
- Kicks Against Calls on TETFund to Fund Private Tertiary Institutions
- Commends, Scores TETFund ‘C’, Wants FIRS to Publish List of Coys Evading Education Tax
By Boyi Akimu
ASUU President, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke, gave the commendation at the tenth anniversary of the fund recently in Abuja.The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has applauded the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for the landmark achievements in the Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Lamenting the lack of transparency in the payment of 2% mandetory education tax by industries Prof. Osodeke pointed out that some companies are evading the payment of the constitutionally mandated 2% Education Tax, thereby calling on the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS to publish the list of companies paying the tax so as to ascertain who the tax evaders are.
“The collection of the 2% education tax is not transparent, if all the companies in this country will pay that 2% tax, TETFund should be able to generate trillions of naira, but some companies still evade paying the tax. There is therefore the need for FIRS to publicly release the names of the companies that are paying, and how much they are paying, to enable us know those that are defaulting”, he said.
While urging Institutions’ Managements on transparency in the management of all TETFund’s funds, he called for the prosecution of those found wanting in mismanaging and misappropriating TETFund’s Funds in their institutions.
“In some Universities, the standard is excellent, but in some universities the standard is low and I want to appeal to the appropriate authorities to look at those institutions where the TETFUND money have been mismanaged and prosecute all those involved especially the Vice Chancellors and Council Members”.
Expressing dismay over the removal of ASUU from Board Membership of TETFund, which infringes on proper monitoring from an independent body, the ASSU President called for readmission of the Union into the Fund’s Board, promising that as the initiator of TETFund, ASUU will ensure proper accountability and utilisation of all Funds from the Agency.
“At inception, ASUU was a Board member of TETFUND, for proper monitoring by an outsider who is not from within government circle, but somewhere along the line ASUU was removed from the membership of the Board through the national assembly.
“This reduced monitoring especially special intervention and stakeholders fund by independent stakeholders. I still believe that there is the need to go back to the former structure where ASUU will be a Board member of TETFund to enable ASUU knows what exactly is happening there and provides checks and balances”, he Ladded.
The ASUU Strongman vehemently kicked against the inclusion of Private Tertiary institutions as beneficiaries of TETFund intervention, describing it as funding a private company with public fund.
“Recently, we heard that private universities should benefit from TETFund intervention which I believe is an aberration. Just like you can’t use VAT to fund a company, you can’t use TETFUND to fund a company.
“Secondly, as I speak to you, 95% of Nigerian students are in public universities. All these private universities accommodate only 5% of Nigerian students and their students pay as much as 3million naira as fees, as such you can’t collect money from the public to fund a company. I want to urge the national assembly not to pass that law”.
He called for institutional independence in deciding what to do with every TETFund allocation, saying that, “the stakeholders (not the VCs) in universities should be allowed to determine what they want to do with their funds and should be allowed to monitor it to ensure that the funds are properly utilized for the development of the system”.