The Federal Government has instructed tertiary institutions in the country to submit reports of intervention funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund(TETfund) that have not been utilised within the next thirty days.
Addressing heads of tertiary institutions at a meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the ministry has been faced with a dilemma over the issue of allocations that are not being put to good use.
He explained that resources that could have been used to develop infrastructure in institutions have remained idle due to avoidable bottlenecks.
The minister also announced that capacity-building programmes will be introduced to strengthen project management, compliance, and reporting, alongside mentorship initiatives, while quarterly reviews will be introduced to track progress and compliance, with sanctions for institutions that fail to utilise funds effectively.
“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.
Transparency will be enhanced through a public dashboard showing disbursement and utilisation data, and institutions will be required to publish project progress reports.