Peter Obi’s Reaction As Tinubu Stops 40% IGR Deduction From Universities

The Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has reacted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to stop the automatic deduction of 40 percent from federal universities’ Internally Generated Revenues (IGR).

Tinubu made this announcement during the ongoing 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Ibadan, as reported by Freshreporters News.

Represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, President Tinubu expressed concerns about the timing of the policy implementation, stating that universities are currently facing challenges.

During his speech as a visitor to the university, Tinubu assured his commitment to reforming the nation’s education sector, emphasizing its crucial role in national development.

In response, Peter Obi, in a statement through X, praised the Federal government for reversing its decision and removing the 40% deduction. He highlighted that the 40% IGR deduction indicated a lack of attention to the ongoing misuse of the TetFund, which is currently not effectively utilized to support tertiary education.

Obi further urged the Federal Government to promptly reorganize and revamp TetFund to ensure it fulfills its statutory role of funding Nigerian public universities, both federal and state-owned.

The statement reads, “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.

“Moreover, that demand underlines a lack of attention to the persistent abuse of the TetFund, which is presently not being properly utilised to fund tertiary education as initially envisaged.

“In fact, FGN should promptly reorganise and revamp TetFund, to fulfil its statutory role of funding Nigerian public universities both Federal and State owned, and also in assisting those owned by voluntary agencies.

“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”…[CONTINUE READING HERE]>>