"I Was So Embarrassed to Know That a Particular Poly With Only 30 Students Gets Billions in Intervention Funds Yearly" Says TETFUND Executive Secretary

Israel Adeleke

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has said that he was so embarrassed when it was brought to his attention that a particular polytechnic in the South East that has been there for four years are receiving billion of naira in annual intervention funds despite having a remarkable small students population of only 30.

OTN News further reports that the Executive Secretary who disclosed this in Abuja at the 2025 one-day strategic interaction workshops for heads of institutions, bursars, and head of procurement of TETFund beneficiary institutions, described the situation as shocking and embarrassing.

Furthermore, Echono revealed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is already investigating the matter.

OTN News observes from the information gathered that the Executive Secretary did not disclose the name of the polytechnic. Instead, he pointed out that it was established four years ago.

He said, “I was so embarrassed when it was brought to my attention that a particular polytechnic in the South East that has been there for four years has only 30 students.

“The SouthEast of all places where if you go to any state including the Northern region, you will see students from the Southeast in those institutions, yet this was put at their doorstep, and they have only 30 students and they have been accessing all their annual disbursements.

“We (TETFUND) are disbursing billions (to the institution). And who are the people they are spending the money on? We describe it as a waste of money. It is so bad that EFCC is on it. I was shocked and I didn’t realise that it was that bad,” he added.

He, however, cautioned that institutions that fail to effectively access, utilize, or account for funds, or those not meeting enrollment and academic performance standards, risk losing eligibility for TETFUND’S support programmes.

He clarified that the policy’s purpose is to protect the integrity and effectiveness of the Fund’s interventions, not to punish institutions.

Conclud8ng, he asserted, “Let me be clear: institutions that consistently fail to access, utilize, or retire funds appropriately, or that mfall short of enrollment and academic performance thresholds, risk being delisted as TETFUND beneficiary institutions.”