The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said that a sum of ?1.024 trillion was accrued to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) from education tax in the last five years.

This figure highlights the significance of the extractive sector in financing Nigeria’s tertiary education.

Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, stated this at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NEITI and TETFund in Abuja.

According to Orji, the MoU aims to ensure timely and prompt remittances through early deployment of evidence-based data.

Under the agreement, NEITI will provide real-time information on revenue accruals due to TETFund to guarantee transparency and support the Fund in tracking remittances and utilisation.

Orji emphasised that NEITI’s role would be to continuously support TETFund with timely, credibly and independently- validated data on revenue accruals from the extractive sector.

A breakdown of the revenues from NEITI’s industry audit reports shows that in 2022, the total revenue accruals to TETFund stood at ?322.99 billion, while in 2023, the figure rose significantly to ?571.01 billion. Between 2019 and 2021, total accruals to TETFund amounted to ?644.19 billion, with ?624.32 billion disbursed.

Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of TETFund, stated that the MoU would enable the two Agencies to explore avenues for ensuring accountability in tax accruals and remittances.

He noted that the agreement would also define a framework for getting accurate and up-to-date data.

Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, described the MoU signing as a welcome development and a foundation for sustainable growth in the education sector.

He emphasised the importance of transparency and NEITI’s role in implementing the agreement.

(The Nation)