Nigeria’s government has ordered all tertiary institutions to submit detailed reports of unspent intervention funds received from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) within the next 30 days, the education minister said on Thursday.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, told heads of universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education at a meeting in Abuja that the directive followed concerns over large sums of idle funds meant for infrastructure and research.
“The ministry has been faced with a dilemma over allocations that are not being put to good use,” Alausa said. “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.”
He said procurement plans must align with approved interventions, adding that project approvals should be accelerated to prevent delays.
Alausa announced that capacity-building and mentorship programmes would be introduced to strengthen project management, compliance, and reporting. He said the ministry would conduct quarterly reviews to track utilisation and enforce sanctions against institutions that fail to comply.
To promote transparency, a public dashboard will be launched to show disbursement and utilisation data, while institutions will be required to publish project progress reports, the minister said.
“TETFund must lead with professionalism, enforce compliance, and ensure transparency,” Alausa added. “Institutional heads should drive urgency and accountability, while bursars, procurement officers, and project coordinators must plan and report diligently.”
He noted that auditors and oversight bodies would be expected to flag irregularities, stressing that “every TETFund naira represents public trust.”
The order follows repeated warnings from TETFund over unused allocations across tertiary institutions. In July, the agency threatened to delist institutions that fail to access and utilise their funds, saying resources would instead go to those up to date with implementation.
TETFund, which finances education projects through a special tax on companies, allocated 1.6 trillion naira ($1.05 billion) to Nigerian tertiary institutions in 2025 for interventions including campus security and healthcare.