Governors Establish Universities Only To Get Funds From TETFund-ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that governors are establishing state universities only to get funding from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke who stated this in an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, accused the governors of establishing universities they can’t afford.

He also stated that because TETFund is an intervention agency, most governors duplicate universities in their states with the intention of getting more funding from TETFUnd.

“Any governor today establishing a university is eyeing TETFund as a source of funding,” he said.

Osodeke accused the politicians and civil servants of using the TETFund as a cash cow to be milked dry through shady procurement processes and contract fraud.

“TETFund was created as an intervention fund, not the major funding. The universities belong to the Federal Government and the government is supposed to fund them and states are supposed to fund their own.

“It’s an intervention fund but there are people who want to have access to that money from the political circle, from the bureaucratic circle, at all cost. We are struggling with that,” he added.

The ASUU president said a structure which will include university community; lecturers and student groups, should be created to carry stakeholders along in the process of how the money is allocated and spent in an open and transparent manner.

“There should be a stakeholders’ meeting to assess what you want to do with the funds,” he said.