TETFund Moves to End Project Delays, Threatens to Ban Offending Institutions in 2027 Allocation
TETFund Moves to End Project Delays, Threatens to Ban Offending Institutions in 2027 Allocation
The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has cracked down on beneficiary institutions failing to complete approved infrastructure projects on schedule, issuing a stern warning that non-compliant schools will be barred from initiating new projects during the 2027 intervention cycle.
The decision was announced by the BoT Chairman, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, who expressed deep concern over the persistent delays in project execution across several tertiary institutions nationwide.
While acknowledging that past delays were partly driven by economic pressures—such as sharp price volatility in key building materials like cement, reinforcement bars, and electrical fittings
Masari noted that the Fund had already addressed these issues. In 2023, TETFund introduced a dedicated intervention line specifically designed to inject funds into stalled projects, a measure that successfully enabled the completion of numerous abandoned sites.
However, the Board Chairman highlighted that recent reviews reveal institutional neglect and administrative bottlenecks remain major drivers of ongoing delays.
Masari cited internal political maneuverings, administrative red tape, and deliberate choices by incoming institution heads—who often abandon ongoing work to launch their own projects—as key causes for the backlog.
Delayed payments to contractors were also highlighted as an avoidable practice crippling progress.
“TETFund-sponsored projects will not be allowed to be negatively impacted by internal bureaucracy and politics within beneficiary institutions,” the Board warned.
To resolve the problem permanently, the Board has approved a five-point enforcement strategy effective immediately:
-Comprehensive Audits: Beneficiary institutions must compile and submit a full inventory of all projects delayed by more than six months, explicitly stating the root causes and proposing concrete remedies.
-Prioritized Costing: Delayed projects must be ranked by institutional relevance and urgency, accompanied by detailed cost assessments for their completion.
-Strict Supervision: Institutions must deploy robust project oversight teams, actively involving their respective Physical Planning and Maintenance Departments to guarantee delivery on time, within budget, and up to specified quality standards.
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-Mandatory Reallocation & 2027 Sanctions: Institutions with active, delayed projects will be required to direct their Annual, Zonal, and High Impact Intervention funds strictly toward finishing those existing structures. Consequently, no proposals for new projects will be accepted from these institutions for the 2027 intervention cycle.
-On-the-Spot Field Assessments: Joint monitoring teams—comprising BoT members and technical staff—will conduct physical inspections of affected sites throughout August and September 2026.
These teams will review institutional completion proposals ahead of the BoT’s statutory meeting in October 2026, where final project approvals for the 2027 disbursement guidelines will be determined.
The directive signals a shift toward strict accountability as the agency aims to ensure that public funds allocated for higher education infrastructure yield timely, practical benefits for students and faculty.
