Member representing Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Federal Constituency, Hon. (Dr.) Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, has joined his colleagues in the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and Other Services to perform oversight functions to address the lingering inability of states in Nigeria to access N500 billion Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
The committee, led by Chairperson Mariam Odinaka Onuoha, said the purpose of the oversight was to see how TETFUND had performed in the 2022–2023 budget, which was in line with the budgetary allocation of the all-important agency.
The South West part of the oversight started in Lagos on Monday, July 1, 2024, where the House of Representatives members met with Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu and key stakeholders in the educational sector in the state. The committee had also conducted the same manner of oversight in Ogun, Osun and Ekiti states, where the committee discussed the process to claim the funds meant for tertiary institutions that they are unable to access, which has led to slow progress in the decision-making process of various federally owned tertiary institutions.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the meeting that lasted for over 2 hours with the Governor of Ondo State, His Excellency, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, on Tuesday in Akure, the state capital, Hon. Adepoju said the committee led by Hon. Mariam was committed to assisting TETFUND to address the bottleneck that has hampered states in Nigeria from accessing their funds.
The lawmaker also expressed that it was in line with the duty of the House Committee on TETFUND to ensure that the budgetary allocation of the agency is used for the purpose for which it was approved by the federal government of Nigeria.
He noted that the committee had had fruitful deliberations with stakeholders in the educational sector in the South West geopolitical zone of Nigeria since the oversight started, noting the readiness of state governments and critical stakeholders to work together to address the issue that has resulted in a gap in the country’s educational system.
