NEITI, TETFund Sign MoU To Boost Transparency In Education Tax Fund Management

By; ARCHIBONG ESUENE, Abuja 

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management of education tax revenues. 

The agreement was formalized on Tuesday, June 18, 2025, in Abuja.

At the signing ceremony, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, expressed strong support for the partnership, describing it as a significant step toward aligning the Fund’s operations with global standards of transparency and fiscal responsibility. He noted that the collaboration would open up new frontiers in data management, fund tracking, and institutional accountability.

According to Echono, “This partnership with NEITI comes at a critical time when TETFund is scaling up its intervention efforts across tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Transparency is central to our mission, and this MoU will help us track remittances more accurately, monitor utilisation, and evaluate the impact of our investments.”

On his part, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed that TETFund received an estimated ₦1.024 trillion in education tax revenue over a five-year period. He said the agreement would facilitate structured data sharing between both agencies, enabling better planning, more effective revenue tracking, and improved reporting. “This partnership will strengthen the transparency framework in how education tax revenues are collected, managed, and disbursed,” Orji said.

He emphasized that real-time updates on revenues due to TETFund would allow for timely disbursement and more impactful project implementation, especially in critical areas like research, teaching infrastructure, and academic support services.

TETFund’s management further noted that with better oversight mechanisms, the Fund would be better positioned to deliver tangible improvements across tertiary institutions—including the development of modern libraries, fully equipped laboratories, and globally competitive research environments.

The MoU reflects the broader commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to institutional reforms, transparency in public finance, and improved service delivery, especially in the education sector.