The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it will begin tracking the utilisation of funds allocated through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for projects across Nigerian universities.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at the public presentation of 82 TETFund-sponsored academic textbooks, the union’s president, Chris Piwuna, said the initiative is aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the university system.
Piwuna said the union had observed lapses in the supervision and utilisation of some TETFund interventions and would therefore monitor how the funds are being used in institutions nationwide.
“There has been significant funding provided to universities in recent years. However, it is important to ensure that such funds are effectively utilised for the purposes they were intended,” he said.
He added that ASUU would conduct a comprehensive review of projects and programmes funded by TETFund in universities.
The ASUU president also raised concerns about the performance of several TETFund Centres of Excellence, noting that some of them may not be delivering outcomes that justify the level of investment.
According to him, the recent addition of six new centres to the existing 30 underscores the need for closer monitoring and evaluation of their activities.
“We believe there should be closer scrutiny of how TETFund interventions are implemented, especially in the centres of excellence, to ensure that the objectives of the programme are achieved,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the federal government is ready to work with ASUU to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management of funds allocated to tertiary institutions.
Alausa called for stronger oversight mechanisms across universities to ensure that public funds are properly utilised.
He added that the federal government would continue collaborating with relevant stakeholders to improve accountability in the use of TETFund resources.
