We’ll soon beam searchlight on corrupt VCs over TETFUND – ASUU
By John Okezie
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced plans to scrutinise Vice chancellors of public universities over alleged corruption and mismanagement of funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), a move that has received the backing of the Federal Government.
President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the public presentation of 72 academic textbooks sponsored by TETFund.
Piwuna alleged that weak supervision of vice chancellors in the implementation of TETFund projects has encouraged financial mismanagement in several public universities.
According to him, some university administrators treat TETFund intervention funds as routine annual allocations and deploy them for purposes outside their intended objectives.
“There has been plenty of money being given to universities in recent years. Sadly, many of them have not utilised it effectively,” he said.
“While some have mismanaged the funds, others have diverted them to projects different from what they were meant for. They do this because they believe another disbursement will come from TETFund the following year.”
The ASUU president said the union would soon “turn its searchlight” on vice chancellors and demand proper accountability for the utilisation of intervention funds.
He also raised concerns about the performance of Centres of Excellence funded by TETFund, noting that many of them are operating below expectations despite significant financial support.
According to him, the addition of six new Centres of Excellence to the existing 30 institutions makes it even more necessary to ensure that funds are properly managed.
Piwuna stressed that university administrators must be held accountable for how intervention funds are utilised.
Responding to the concerns, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, expressed support for ASUU’s position and welcomed the union’s plan to monitor how funds are used in tertiary institutions.
Alausa said some vice chancellors, rectors and provosts were operating their institutions like personal empires, adding that stronger oversight was necessary to ensure accountability.
“We need your help in ensuring that fiduciary responsibilities are met and that those managing our institutions are held accountable,” the minister said.
“Every single naira deployed to these institutions should be used strictly for the purposes for which it was approved.”
He assured that the Federal Government would collaborate with ASUU to ensure proper monitoring of TETFund interventions and strengthen accountability in the nation’s higher education system.
