Revealed: How contenders for TETFund leadership deploy media attacks on the Agency

Following the recent controversy surrounding the award of an ICT-related project by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and eventual invitation of some of the Agency’s Directors by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). Our medium carried out some investigations to shed more light on the ongoing issue.

In August 2023, the Management of TETFUND and Heads of Beneficiary Institutions met at the Agency’s Auditorium to chart programmes for the year 2024. In the programme, it was revealed that there is a surge in the Education Tax (EDT), following the approval of former President Muhammadu Buhari to increase it from 2.5% to 3% in the 2023 Financial Act. This approval was granted few days to Mr. Buhari’s exit from office as a parting gift to the country’s education sector.

It was in this engagement new intervention lines were proposed, covering perimeter fencing for schools suffering from encroachment, disaster recovery for schools impacted by flood and other natural disasters. Abandoned projects took center-stage, and Access Clinic for their resuscitation were proposed, and plans for improved ICT-infrastructure were mulled and the need to deepen the country’s drive for research development and innovation, which led to a collaboration between TETFUND and Innova8 Hub to design the TETFair, Research for Impact programme and promoted participation in I-Fair, an Israeli Government programme for Academic Researchers.

In November 2023, in line with the discussion at the Stakeholders Engagement, the Blackboard Learning Management System was flagged-off, where Head of Institutions, Directors of ICT in Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges were trained, ahead of the launch of Tertiary Education Research Applications and Services (TERAS) platform, intended to offer integrated services on such as anti-plagiarism, online repository, global library and serve as a teaching and learning platform.

The above implies that the ongoing controversy surrounding Learning Management System and its eventual award precedes 2024. Thus, why didn’t Beneficiary Institutions Protest ahead of the 2024 Intervention Funds approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The recent outburst is likely to paint the Management of the Agency as misleading the President in the eventual approval of the Intervention Funds.

According to sources who pleaded anonymity, it was gathered that five people were shortlisted for the leadership of the Agency following the emergence of President Bola Tinubu. A current Vice-Chancellor in a North Central University, a former Vice-Chancellor of a South-West University, a former Director of the Agency, former Executive Secretary who has completed a term and seeking a second and the incumbent Executive Secretary of TETFund. In the absence of an official announcement and constitution of boards for many Agencies, similar format are deployed by contenders for seats in numerous Agencies. It was also gathered that some of these contenders consider the President to be slow in his appointments and believe they are helping him by forcing his hands, by deploying the recent mechanism of media attacks and financial scandal to ensure the occupant of the seats they aspire to replace are shown exit doors.

Our platform gathered that some of the hopefuls for the TETFund leadership have been in the loop, watching closely and going as far as trying to use relatives working in the Agency or others whom they facilitated their appointments to leak documents. These has led to attacks on the recent recruitment of the Agency, and on countless occasions, many CSOs have written to the Agency, demanding the Agency’s Boss, Sonny Echono asset declaration and the Legal Department of the Agency redirects them to Conduct of Conduct Bureau (CCB) where such can be obtained.

In a leaked conversation with one of the contenders for the position of the Executive Secretary of TETFund, it was hinted that staff of the Agency do not like Sonny Echono and want him gone. While also disclosing that the recent attack is to discredit Sonny Echono in front of his backers in the Presidency. Lamenting how tough it has been to eject Echono from office due to him being a former Permanent Secretary who served in three major Ministries, the contender revealed that there is a committed attempt to return TETFund to the hands of Academics.

Sonny Echono is the first Executive Secretary of TETFund who did not come from the Academia. Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, Prof. Elias Bogoro who got sacked and returned to complete his term, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa who are former Executive Secretaries of TETFund are from the Academic Community. Echono is an Architect who retired as a Permanent Secretary and Board member of TETFund, before being appointed to reform the Agency. It was discovered that countless petitions have been written that he is not qualified to be Executive Secretary of TETFund, but unfortunately, none was able to fly and assure his removal.