President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, criticized governors for establishing state universities without adequate funding and accused them of duplicating universities to access funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
In an interview on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” program, Prof. Osodeke stated that many governors view TETFund as a financial resource, contrary to its intended purpose as an intervention fund for public universities.
He highlighted concerns about misuse of funds through dubious procurement and contract practices, emphasizing that TETFund was originally meant to supplement, not replace, government funding for universities.
He said, “TETFund was created as an intervention fund, not the major funding. The universities belong to the federal government and government is supposed to fund them and states are supposed to fund their own.
“It’s an intervention fund but there are people who want to have access to that money from the political circle, from the bureaucratic circle, at all cost. We are struggling with that.”
Prof. Osodeke called for greater transparency and stakeholder involvement in allocating and utilizing TETFund resources, advocating for inclusive decision-making processes involving university communities, lecturers, and student groups to ensure accountability and prevent misuse of funds.
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