The Federal Government has given tertiary institutions 30 days to account for unspent Tertiary Education Trust Fund allocations, warning that idle money will be re-allocated and officials will face sanctions for non-compliance.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave the directive in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting with heads of institutions.

Alausa noted that the ministry has faced a dilemma over allocations that are not being put to good use. He stated that resources for developing infrastructure have remained idle due to bottlenecks.

The minister’s directive follows repeated concerns from TETFund over the significant amount of unused allocations by higher institutions in Nigeria.

In July, the Fund threatened to delist institutions that fail to access and utilise their allocations, emphasising that the money would be diverted to institutions that are up to date with accessing and utilising disbursements.

Although TETFund did not make the amount of unused funds public, the House of Representatives Committee on TETFund noted in August 2024 that the sum of N500bn remained idle in the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Similarly, the Academic Staff Union of Universities stated on Wednesday during a meeting convened by the TETFund Board of Trustees in Abuja that over N600bn worth of allocations remain unused by institutions.

“Institutions must submit reconciled reports of all unutilised funds within 30 days, which will be jointly verified. Unused funds may be redirected to priority projects, and carrying them over without strong justification will no longer be allowed. Procurement plans must align with approved interventions, and approvals should be fast-tracked to prevent delays,” Alausa said.

The minister also announced that capacity-building programmes would be introduced to strengthen project management, compliance, and reporting, alongside mentorship initiatives. Quarterly reviews will track progress and compliance, with sanctions for institutions that fail to utilise funds effectively.

Transparency will be enhanced through a public dashboard showing disbursement and utilisation data, and institutions will be required to publish project progress reports.

Alausa emphasised that the success of this initiative depends on strong collaboration among stakeholders.

“TETFund must lead with professionalism, enforce compliance, and ensure transparency. Institutional heads should drive urgency and accountability, while bursars, procurement officers, and project coordinators must plan and report diligently.

“Auditors and oversight bodies are expected to monitor activities and flag irregularities. All stakeholders must uphold a sense of stewardship, recognising that every TETFund naira represents public trust,” Alausa said.

The allocation of TETFund resources is based on demand-driven interventions, where institutions submit proposals for projects based on their needs, and TETFund approves them accordingly. In 2025, TETFund allocated N1.6 trillion to Nigerian tertiary institutions, with a focus on campus security, direct intervention, and healthcare.

The immediate past President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and a current member of the union’s National Executive Council, Prof Victor Osodeke, called for sanctions against heads of institutions who fail to deploy allocated intervention funds.

He stressed that such negligence undermines TETFund’s mandate to improve teaching, learning, and research infrastructure across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

“There’s a huge sum of money in the Central Bank belonging to institutions that have not been utilised. The last time we checked, it was close to ?600 billion. None of the universities or Vice-Chancellors responsible for this has been punished,” he said.

“This is public money given to universities over the years. Some have had the funds for 10 to 15 years without using them, and several projects have been abandoned. Measures must be put in place to ensure accountability among university administrators and governing councils,” he added. (The PUNCH)