TETFund bars institutions with abandoned projects from new interventions

The Board of Trustees of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund has announced that tertiary institutions with delayed or abandoned TETFund-funded projects will not be allowed to access new intervention projects under the 2027 allocation cycle unless they complete the outstanding projects.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Aminu Masari, made this known in a statement on Wednesday signed by its Head of Public Relations, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, adding that it is aimed at addressing persistent delays in the execution of intervention projects across beneficiary institutions despite previous efforts to resolve the challenge.

Masari said the board had taken a “final stand” on the issue after observing that many institutions continued to fail to complete approved projects within stipulated timelines.

He explained that although external factors such as fluctuations in the prices of construction materials initially contributed to project delays, the board had introduced a special intervention line in 2023 to enable institutions to complete affected projects.

According to him, “The Board of Trustees has taken a final stand on the issue of delay in completion of approved projects in all its beneficiary institutions, warning that affected institutions will not get approval to commence new projects in the 2027 allocation cycle.”

He noted that the dedicated intervention introduced in 2023 had achieved significant success.

“The reasons given for the unacceptable development ranged from volatility in market prices of key building materials like cement, reinforcement bars, sanitary and electrical fittings, among others, which informed the introduction of a new intervention line dedicated to completing the affected projects.”

Masari added that “a recent review confirmed that the initiative yielded the desired result as many of the affected projects have been completed following this intervention.”

Despite the progress, the TETFund chairman lamented that fresh cases of delayed projects were still being recorded.

He attributed the latest delays largely to institutional leadership and administrative bottlenecks rather than funding constraints.

“The continued occurrence of non-adherence to stipulated timelines in completing TETFund-sponsored projects is unacceptable,” he said.

According to him, “Lack of continuity in project implementation by heads of beneficiary institutions who prefer to start new projects, as well as delays in processing payments to contractors handling the projects, are largely responsible for the avoidable development.”

Masari stressed that projects financed by TETFund “will not be allowed to be negatively impacted by internal bureaucracy and politics within beneficiary institutions.”

To permanently address the recurring challenge, the Board approved a series of measures that will take immediate effect.

Under the new directive, all beneficiary institutions must compile comprehensive lists of projects that have exceeded their completion timelines by more than six months, identify the causes of the delays, and propose practical remedies.

The institutions are also expected to rank the affected projects according to priority, provide detailed cost estimates required for their completion, and establish stronger project supervision mechanisms involving their Physical Planning and Maintenance Departments.

The board further directed that institutions with delayed projects must prioritise their completion using their Annual, Zonal and High Impact Intervention allocations.

It warned that “no new projects will be admitted from the identified beneficiary institutions for the 2027 intervention cycle.”

To ensure compliance, TETFund said monitoring teams made up of Board members and technical staff would conduct physical inspections of affected projects across institutions in August and September 2026.

The inspection reports and proposals submitted by institutions would be reviewed during the Board’s statutory meeting scheduled for October 2026, where projects eligible for inclusion in the 2027 disbursement guidelines would be considered.

TETFund, established under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act, is Nigeria’s foremost intervention agency for financing infrastructure, research, academic staff training and development, library enhancement and other capital projects in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. The Fund is financed through a dedicated education tax paid by registered companies operating in Nigeria.

Over the years, TETFund has invested hundreds of billions of naira in lecture theatres, laboratories, hostels, libraries, medical facilities, research centres and specialised academic infrastructure across public tertiary institutions. However, delayed execution of projects, abandoned construction works and changes in institutional leadership have remained recurring concerns, prompting repeated calls by the Fund for stricter project monitoring and accountability.

The latest directive comes as TETFund intensifies efforts to ensure that intervention funds translate into completed, functional infrastructure capable of improving teaching, learning and research, while preventing public resources from being tied down in abandoned or distressed projects.