In the wake of the Federal Government’s decision to revoke the directive mandating the deduction of 40% from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of universities, Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential election, has extended his commendation to the government.
NewsNow confirmed that the Federal Government, yielding to pressure, has suspended the automatic deduction of 40% from the IGR of tertiary institutions.
Addressing the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony at the University of Ibadan (UI), President Bola Tinubu announced the reversal of the 40% IGR automatic deduction policy, stating, “This is not the best time for such policy since our universities are struggling.”
Expressing his views on his X handle, the former Anambra State governor called for the prompt reorganization and revamping of TETFund, and lauded the government’s reversal, saying, “It is gratifying that the FGN has reversed its demand on the 40% IGR from universities. It is ab initio totally inconceivable that grossly underfunded universities would be expected to dole out 40% of their IGR to the FGN.”
Highlighting the lack of attention to the abuse of TetFund and emphasizing the need for prompt reorganization and revamping of TETFund, he added, “The time has come for the government to pay more attention to the financial autonomy of our public universities while fulfilling its statutory financial responsibility to our public tertiary education.”