The Board of Trustees of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund has barred beneficiary institutions with uncompleted TETFund-sponsored projects from accessing new intervention projects in the 2027 allocation cycle.

The Chairman of the Board, Aminu Masari, announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi.

Masari said the measure was aimed at addressing the persistent delay in the execution of projects across beneficiary institutions.

He said institutions with projects that have exceeded their completion timelines would be required to prioritise their completion under existing Annual, Zonal and High Impact intervention lines before they could qualify for fresh allocations.

He explained that although the Board introduced a special intervention line in 2023 to support the completion of stalled projects due to rising costs of construction materials such as cement, reinforcement bars, sanitary and electrical fittings, some institutions had continued to record delays in project delivery.

According to him, a recent review showed that the initiative had enabled the completion of many previously stalled projects, but the continued failure of some institutions to deliver projects within approved timelines remained unacceptable.

Masari attributed the delays largely to the lack of continuity in project implementation by successive heads of beneficiary institutions, who often abandoned ongoing projects in favour of new ones, as well as delays in processing payments to contractors.

He also warned that internal bureaucracy and institutional politics would no longer be allowed to hinder the execution of TETFund-funded projects.

To address the recurring problem, the Board directed all beneficiary institutions to compile a comprehensive list of projects that have exceeded their planned completion period by more than six months, indicating the causes of the delays and proposed remedies.

The Institutions were also directed to rank the projects according to their relevance and priority, while providing detailed cost estimates for their completion.

In addition, the Board instructed beneficiary institutions to strengthen project supervision by ensuring the active involvement of their Physical Planning and Maintenance Departments to guarantee timely delivery, cost efficiency and adherence to quality standards.

Masari disclosed that monitoring teams comprising members of the Board and technical staff of TETFund would conduct on-the-spot assessments of affected projects and evaluate completion plans submitted by beneficiary institutions.

He said the inspections would take place in August and September 2026 ahead of the Board’s statutory meeting in October, where projects to be admitted into the 2027 intervention guidelines would be considered. (The Nation)